Angel With a Shotgun
by FirearmPrime
Summary: A case sends Cristina Taylor all the way to Hawaii. Once completed, she if offered a job with the Five-O Task Force. Taking the job, she has to learn to balance life on the island with her new friends, dangerous cases, and a new romance. I suck at summaries but please give it a try! Please don't forget to fave, follow, and review to let me know what you think! Danny Williams/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I have always loved Hawaii Five-0 (the 2010 version) and so I decided that it was time for me to write a story! I noticed that there aren't a lot of Danny Williams stories on here and I am in love with him so here's this one! I really hope you guys like this and I hope you will fave, follow, and review to let me know if I should continue! I'm really on the fence with this story with all the different elements from the show so please let me know what you all think!**

 **P.S: This story is going to be strictly Hawaii Five-0 with elements of all of the CSI shows (Vegas, Miami, and New York) as well as Criminal Minds!**

 **P.S.S: I'm also trying to be correct as possible with all of the military and crime talk; I'm trying to do research as I write so please bear with me!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Cristina Taylor!**

 **XXX**

"Cristina! Can you come here for a minute!?" The woman, Cristina Taylor, turned her head, focusing her ice blue eyes from her microscope to her supervisor. Andrew motioned for her to follow him to her office. She stood up straight, turning to her partner. She'd been working with Kyle Ryder since she came to Detroit.

"Hey Kyle, keep an eye on this and let me know what we get okay?" She asked as the man turned to her. He nodded his head before turning back to microscope where he was running ballistics.

"Yeah, I will." He said. She pulled her gloves off as she walked, putting them in her pocket. She knocked on Andrew's door even though the door was open. He looked up at her and nodded, motioning for her to come inside. She closed the door behind her.

"What did you need?" She asked. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh, scratching at his chin.

"I just got off the phone with Governor Jameson, the Governor of Hawaii." Cristina opened and closed her mouth a few times before nodding her head. "She wants access to the Spencer Noel case." Now Cristina raised her eyebrow.

"Why would she need that?" She asked.

"Apparently, he is now in Hawaii." Andrew said, lacing his fingers together and looking at the young woman. "He's being connected to a murder over there and they want to be able to check the other cases to make sure they officially match." She nodded her head. "Being as you are the head CSI and Detective of the case, I was hoping you would be willing to head to Hawaii and help with the investigation." She licked her lips and nodded her head.

"So they think it's him?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright. I'll head out there as soon as I can." She said, standing up.

"Alright. I'll give the Governor another call and let her know." Andrew said, already reaching for the phone. Cristina nodded and headed out of the office back to her lab to let Kyle know what was going on before she headed to the locker room to get her stuff.

 **XXX**

Cristina smiled as the woman placed a flower lei around her neck. It had taken her nine hours to get from Detroit to Honolulu but now, being on the island, she almost felt like she didn't have a care in the world. She glanced down at her phone, her flight had left at six in the morning and she'd landed at three in the afternoon. She made her way to baggage claim where she got her luggage and made her way to the parking lot. From what she understood, the Governor was sending someone to meet her. She moved away from the crowd, watching people as they moved around, getting on buses and into taxis. She felt like she could really like Hawaii if she wasn't there for work.

"Detective Taylor?" A voice asked from her left. She turned and nodded to the man standing there. He was an oriental man with a kind smile; she couldn't help but smile back. "I'm Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly; I'm a part of the Five-O Task Force." She shook his hand when he offered it.

"Detective and CSI Cristina Taylor. It's really nice to meet you." She released his hand.

"You too." He said. He looked down at her duffle bag and the back pack on her shoulder. "Just two bags?" She looked down at the duffle bag on the ground and smiled up at him.

"I travel light." She grabbed it, throwing it over her shoulder as she followed him to his classic red car. "Nice car." She said as she walked towards the trunk that Chin had opened.

"Thanks." He smiled, closing the trunk. They got into the car, pulling out of the parking lot and heading towards Five-O's headquarters. They were silent as she took in the sights of the island. "I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries but… were you military of some kind?" He asked. She turned to him, leaning her head back against the headrest.

"It's not overstepping but I have to ask, how did you know?" She asked.

"Well, you remind me of the man running the Task Force. The way you walk and carry yourself… along with the amount of baggage you have." He said, smiling at her. She chuckled, turning back to the window. "I've also seen a few scars…" He continued quietly. Cristina rubbed one of the larger scars on her forearm.

"I was an Army Ranger for two years. I was eighteen and left New York for the first time. My father was a Marine and I knew I couldn't follow in his footsteps but I wanted to do some kind of military work." Cristina looked down at the scars, both noticeable and nearly invisible. "I was almost at the end of my first two years of enlistment when four of my friends and I were going over our usual routine patrol. We ended up running over an IED that flipped the Humvee several times. We were all injured, one more than others. I couldn't feel my right leg, I broke my collarbone on the left side, broke five fingers between both of my hands, and I had a concussion. I had whiplash along with multiple contusions and bruises all over my body. Somehow, I found the strength to get free of my seatbelt and begin pulling everyone out. By the time help got there, everyone was out but the pain and numbness of my leg was going all the way up to my hip." She glanced at Chin; she could see him gripping the steering wheel tightly. "Everyone survived though. I received an honorable discharge because of the leg. When I returned to the states, I joined the reserves and began working as a CSI in New York with my dad." She paused and took in a deep breath. "And that's my military story." She offered him a small smile.

"Well, thank you for your service." Chin said and this time, it didn't seem like he was just saying it to say it like a lot of people. He looked and sounded like he actually meant it. She smiled at him and he smiled back. The rest of the ride was set in a comfortable silence. When they arrived at the Task Force's HQ, she left her duffle bag in his trunk before grabbing her backpack, following the man up the steps towards the main floor.

"So, what do you know already know about our suspect?" Chin asked, glancing over at the woman behind him.

"His name is Spencer Noel and he is a 45 years old Caucasian male with brown hair and hazel eyes. He's already has five murder charges against him in Detroit and I'm assuming one here since you're investigating him." Cristina began to explain, glancing at Chin as he opened the next set of glass doors.

"That's right."

"I don't know where he'd be on the island but he's not afraid to be seen."

"What do you mean?"

"He came on a plane from Detroit to here. He was in coach so I know there were others who saw him. He swindled his way out when we had him for four of the first murders. I mean, he pretty much confessed to them, then he disappears, and ends up here in Hawaii." Cristina smiled at the native woman standing at the smart table.

"We'll get him. Detective Taylor, this is my cousin Officer Kono Kalakua. Kono, this is Detective Cristina Taylor." Chin introduced the two women. They shook hands, smiling at each other.

"Please, just call me Cris." The older woman said. Kono and Chin smiled.

"So you're the one they sent from Detroit?" Kono asked as she typed away at the table.

"Yeah, I am. I've been following this case for a year and a half… since his killings all started." Cristina watched as Kono brought up the password protected file. She moved aside to let Cristina get close to the table. She typed the password in, watching as the file opened and any and all files and pictures were available to the team. Together, they went through all of the files to discuss everything that they needed to understand.

"It's the Navy Danny! Not the Army!" A new voice entered the conversation. Cristina glanced up before turning to look at the two native Hawaiian's. They both had small smiles adorning their faces.

"Forgive me, Steven." Another voice said just before two figures rounded the corner. The first man Cristina noticed as a dark haired man that stood at 6'1". Cristina was sure that she knew him from somewhere and as he turned towards her, she realized who it was. Steve McGarrett was a former Navy SEAL that she had served briefly with during her first year in the Army. The second man was shorter, around 5'5" (Cristina's height when she's not wearing heels) with blonde hair that is slicked back with blue eyes. Both opened their mouths to speak before they froze, realizing Cristina was standing between the cousins.

"Guys, this is Detective Cristina Taylor from Detriot. Cris, this is Detective Danny Williams and Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett." Chin introduced them before turning his attention back to the screen.

"It's nice to meet you." Danny said, offering his hand to the woman. She smiled as she took it in a firm grip. This close, Cristina could see that his eyes were a crystal blue. He was her height but he was a stockier build, she could see that he was fit and in shape.

"You too." She said, smiling at the man. Someone cleared their throats and they both turned to look back at Steve, subtly releasing each other's hands.

"Hey Mr. America." She said with a smile and Steve's brow furrowed slightly. She wasn't surprised that he didn't remember her; they spent very little time together while they were stationed together. "I can't believe you don't remember me?!" She put her hands on her hips. He tilted his head slightly before his eyes widen a bit in realization.

"Wonder Woman? You're the CSI they brought from Detroit?" He asked, stepping forward to pull the woman into a light, friendly hug. She was a little surprised he remembered her codename from her days in the military. Chin, Kono, and Danny were looking between the two of them.

"Anyone want to explain?" Danny asked, looking between the two of them, using his hand that wasn't in his slack's pocket to motion between the two of them.

"I'm a former Army Ranger, I was serving my initial recruitment years around the same time that Steve-o here was a SEAL." Cristina explained, motioning to the man.

"Yeah. How are you, by the way? I heard about the IED." Steve asked, turning his attention back to the woman.

"We all made it out alive. I was honorably discharged for an injury and when I was completely healed I joined the reserves." She explained and the man nodded. He looked over his team.

"What do we got on the suspect?"

"Well…" Chin began. "His name is Spencer Noel."

 **XXX**

Cristina looked up from her computer when there was a knock on the glass door of her borrowed office. She smiled when she saw Steve and Danny standing there. "What can I do for you fine gentleman?" She asked.

"Well, I don't think it's been long enough but do you have anything?" Danny asked. Cristina glanced down at her computer and nodded.

"Yes I do. I just finished running the fingerprints. Our victim is not in any known database, which is to be expected for a few reasons that I'm not going to go into. The other set of fingerprints was our suspect, Noel, which I expected. Ballistics is back and the round pulled from our victim is the same as every round I've pulled from the Detroit victims. The gun is unregistered but I have put it in Noel's hands for the first four murders." Cristina explained, clicking and moving the screen around while Danny and Steve listened. "Everything matches up and this victim matches the profile of the other victims."

"Excuse me?" Cristina turned to look at them. Danny was raising his hand. "Profile?"

"I worked for the Behavioral Analysis Unit, a division of the FBI that uses behavioral sciences to assist in criminal investigations, and I have two Bachelors in Psychology and Sociology." Cristina explained.

"So what's his profile?" Steve asked this time.

"Women between the ages of 20 to 30. Dark brown hair of varying lengths. Eye color, body type, and ethnicity don't seem to matter to him. They were all of varying height. Nothing but the age and hair color doesn't really matter. It could be coincidence but he premediates so I wouldn't think so." The CSI explained.

"So any woman on the island could be a target?" Steve asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes and no. He watches his victims for up to a week." Cristina said. "Checking the records, we saw where Noel purchased his plane ticket. It was a week before your victim was found if not a couple of days extra. He's going to kill again but within a week. These guys who kill… they have a way they do things, a profile. They don't like to stray from that too much." She explained to them, they both nodded.

"That still doesn't help us narrow it down…" Danny said, pointing his thumb behind him at the door.

"I know but I'm working on that as well. I'm checking all of his possible social media to see if he was in contact with anyone from the island and…" She typed quickly. "I have a match." She turned the computer so that they could see since she wasn't using the smart table. "Alani Palu."

"Has he done that before?" Kono asked. "Using social media to find a victim…"

"Once before, his second victim. I always check but typically don't get any correspondence between the two." Cristina answers, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It says here she only 19." Danny looked over at her. She looked up at him and nodded.

"She's almost 20. She fits the profile…" She shrugged lightly.

"You said they don't stray from the profile." Steve said to her. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"They don't _typically_ and he's not. Physically, she's everything he's looking for. Being only a year younger doesn't mean much. Besides…" Cristina turned the computer back to her before typing on the keys briefly, looking up at everyone. "She turns 20 this week." They all nodded.

"How long do we have before he comes for her?" Chin asked.

"I'm guessing four to five days. We need to find her now." Cristina said, watching Chin type on the table.

"How easy is it going to be to catch this guy?" The former SEAL turned to the CSI. She looked up at him.

"Not easy. Like I said before, I've been working on his case for a year and a half. Every time I get close he just… disappears. It's like fucking whack-a-mole." She pushed her shoulder-length dark brown hair out of her face.

"Have you ever managed to get one step ahead of him?" Danny asked this time. She looked down at the screen.

"You know, I don't think so. He always waits seven days to kill and now that we have the potential victim… I think we can get him." The woman began biting her nails.

"Is there a way to get him without putting Alani in danger?" Kono asked, leaning her hip on the table.

"There might be but we need to talk to her without alerting Noel that we know. And I think I know how." She said with a small smile. "I know what school she goes to, we might need to make a visit."

 **XXX**

"No badges, no guns." Cristina said to Kono as they took off their guns and stored them under their seats before making sure their badges were covered. Cristina reached into her backpack and pulled out a baseball cap, putting it over her head.

"What's that for?" The other woman asked as they got out of the car.

"He knows me. If he sees me he might get spooked." Kono nodded as they walked inside the main office. They smiled at the receptionist.

"Hello ladies, how can I help you?" She asked. Cristina and Kono flashed their badges briefly.

"My name is Officer Kalakua and this is Detective Taylor, we need to see one of your students. She's not in trouble, we just need to talk." Kono said and the woman nodded. Once they gave her Alani's name and the girl was called for, they stepped to the side and waited patiently for her to come into the office.

"So why are we doing this?" Kono asked. Cristina looked up at her and smiled.

"The old bait-and-switch." She nodded softly.

"Do you think it's going to work?"

"We're going to see." Alani came into the office, going to the main desk. The receptionist pointed over to them. The girl nodded before making her way over.

"Hi." She said, unsure.

"Alani?" Kono asked and the girl nodded. "I'm Officer Kono Kalakua and this is Detective Cristina Taylor. We're here to talk to you because we think that you're a potential target of a killer." The girl went pale.

"Who?" She asked, wringing her hands together.

"His name is Spencer Noel." Cristina said and Alani looked down. "So you have spoken to him?" She nodded.

"He said he was a guy at a different school…" She was quiet.

"I know, I've seen the profile he uses. We already have everything figured out; we just wanted to talk to you." The girl nodded at Cristina. Alani was the same height as Cristina; their hair was almost the same shade. The plan was coming together now that she'd seen the girl. She turned to Kono and nodded. "I think the plan will work but we need to talk to your family as well." Alani nodded her head.

"I'll help in any way I can."

 **XXX**

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Steve asked from where Cristina was adjusting her jacket. The plan was coming together. After a week of surveillance and just watching over Alani, it was Saturday, which was the day that they felt Noel would attack. Alani and her family were in a protected hotel room with Chin and Kono while Steve and Danny were in the car with Cristina. She put the hood of the hoodie, under her jacket, over her head.

"Not 100% but we'll see." She answered, offering both men a small smile.

"So what are we doing again?" Danny asked from the passenger seat.

"You're sitting here until you hear the code word… or something else that would warrant you guys coming in. It's just the three of us so you have to move quick if you hear it. We can't let him get away." She answered. They both nodded, they were both in full tactical gear while Cristina was just wearing the clothes Alani left the house in. The plan was that her family left early in the day for an outing while Alani stayed home until later in the afternoon. The girl then left and drove to the hotel where she met up with Cristina and Five-O. They switched clothes and Cristina, Danny, and Steve got into her car, driving back to the house as if she was Alani. She was hoping that Noel had the place under surveillance so that the plan would actually work.

"You look like her." Danny said to her, tilting his head. She nodded.

"That's the plan." She said before she opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her. She walked up the walkway, looking down at the keys in her hands as she found the house key. Unlocking it and stepping inside, she was immediately assaulted with an uneasy feeling. She looked around before walking down the hallway to the living room. She dropped her keys and everything on the counter before continuing to her room.

' _Everything okay?'_ Danny's voice said in her ear from their comms. She hummed a quiet song in response, letting them know she'd heard them. She didn't want to say anything, she was pretty sure there was someone else in the house. Cristina grunted softly when something hard pressed against the back of her head and she almost completely sure it was a gun.

"Hello Alani, so nice to finally meet you in person." Spencer Noel's voice said from behind her. "Why don't you turn around so I can see your pretty face?" She bit her lip, the minute she turned around Noel would know exactly who she was. He pressed the gun a little harder to her head. "Turn around Alani." Cristina put her hands up beside her head before turning slowly. She watched as his eyes widen slightly in surprise before they turned cold and calculating. "Detective Taylor… I must say I'm a little surprised that you followed me all the way to Hawaii." She shrugged her shoulders softly.

"Well, you know, I have a year and a half invested in this." Noel smirked, pointing the gun at her chest.

"I'm a little surprised that you were one step ahead of me this time." Noel said, walking around the woman slowly.

"Well, I must say, you're getting a little sloppy." She smirked before she felt him slam the butt of the gun into her right temple, knocking the woman off of her feet.

"I'd be very careful what you say Detective. You don't have a weapon on you and no back-up coming." She looked up at him, blinking to try and clear her vision.

"Are you really that stupid to think I would come after you on my own?" She asked before she heard the shot and white-hot pain shot through her abdomen. She put her hands over the wound and she was briefly sure she heard the door be kicked in. There were a few more shots before a set of hands pressed down on hers. She gasped in pain and instinctively tried to move away from the hands and the feeling.

"Cristi! Cris! Babe! It's okay. It's Danny. You're okay." Cristina blinked her eyes open when she recognized the voice of the blonde detective. He gave her a small smile when he saw her eyes open. "Hey, you did good, babe." She chuckled softly, groaning at the end.

"Yeah, that's why I've got a bullet in me." She said softly. Danny gently pushed her hands out of the way to check the wound before pressing his own hands down onto it. She groaned and shifted but let him do what he needed to do, dropping her right hand to the ground while her left covered his lightly.

"EMT's are on their way." Steve said, kneeling down to Cristina's other side, the side with the bruise forming on her temple. The ex-SEAL gently probed at the spot, causing a small headache to form throughout her head. She groaned, turning her head away from the man.

"Good job Sergeant." Steve said, causing the woman to turn her head back to him.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"Years of being in Naval Intelligence give you a few liberties." He said with a small smile. She nodded her head before laying it back against the floor.

"Is he…?" She asked, turning to look at the body laying a few feet from her.

"Unconscious, in cuffs, and waiting to be extradited to Michigan." Steve said and the woman nodded again. She could hear the sirens from the ambulance before she let herself lose consciousness, even with Danny and Steve telling her to stay awake.

 **XXX**

"Yes ma'am. Thank you. We can't take all of the credit…that goes to Detective Taylor." She could hear Steve's voice as she came back to consciousness. "Yes ma'am, I will let her know." She heard Steve hang up the phone.

"The governor?" Chin's voice asked. Steve was silent, making her think that he nodded.

"She was just thanking us on a job well done." Steve said to the others, which she could assume they were all in the room.

"Even though Cris did all the work." Kono said. Cristina was so tuned into their conversation that she jumped when someone poked her cheek. She blinked her eyes open, smacking the hand away and turning her head. Danny was sitting next to her with a small smile.

"I thought you were awake." He said before she looked around the room and saw that everyone was there.

"Hey." She said and everyone smiled back at her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Chin asked. She nodded her head.

"Good, you know, considering I was shot and everything." Everyone chuckled quietly.

"Well, we already have a police escort heading back to Detroit. Your P.D. will be waiting at the airport. The Governor is calling your supervisor to let him know what happened and that you would be heading back when you were cleared to fly." Steve said, sitting on the chair by her feet. She nodded her head.

"Hello Ms. Taylor." The nurse said as she came into the room. Cristina offered her a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." She answered.

"How's the pain?" The nurse asked again as she checked all of her vitals.

"I'm fine." She answered before the nurse looked at her.

"You're an Army Ranger, correct?" Cristina nodded softly. "You have a high pain tolerance. Are you sure you don't need anything?" The CSI shifted slightly, trying to cover the whimper that came when her ab muscles shifted.

"Maybe a little bit of pain." The nurse chuckled and nodded.

"We'll give you a mild painkiller." Cristina nodded her head.

"Thank you." The nurse offered her another smile before she turned and left the room.

"It's like having another McGarrett…" Danny said, causing everyone to smile and chuckle except for Steve.

 **XXX**

Cristina adjusted her bag on her shoulder, smiling at the Task Force. They were all at the Airport, seeing Cristina off as she headed back to Detroit about a week after the case ended. "Don't be a stranger." Kono said as she hugged the older woman. Cristina chuckled, hugging her back.

"I'll try. I don't think it would be so bad to come here on vacation." Cristina said, looking around. They all smiled.

"See you soon." Chin said, hugging the woman. She hugged him back, smiling when he released her.

"Seriously, anytime you want to come, let me know, babe." Danny said with a smile as he hugged the woman. She hugged him back.

"Of course and thanks again for that night, Danny." He shrugged a shoulder and cupped her left cheek before dropping his hands.

"Hey, it's what I do." They both chuckled. They were so focused on each other that they didn't see the looks that the rest of the team was throwing to each other.

"Commander." Cristina said, playfully saluting the ex-SEAL.

"Sergeant." He saluted her back. Glancing back at the runway, she was that her plane was ready. She turned back to everyone.

"I'll see you all soon." She said before she made her way to the plane, climbing aboard. She gave them one more wave before she stepped over to her seat, settling in for the 9 hour flight.

 **XXX**

A week later, Cristina was just walking into the locker room when Andrew walked in. "Hey Cris, I have to talk to you about something." He said as he walked over to her.

"Sure, what's up?" She asked, changing her heels into a pair of black combat boots.

"I got another call from the Governor of Hawaii." She looked up at him. "She offered you a job." The woman dropped her boot, turning to look at her supervisor.

"What?" She asked, just to make sure that she'd heard him correctly.

"Yeah, she offered you a job as a part of her Task Force. She said you would be the team's personal CSI as well as a Detective. I'm sure being military as something else to do with it, even if she didn't say it." He sat down on the bench next to her.

"I don't…" She began, unsure of what to say.

"Cris, do what you think is right. We're going to miss you here if you take the job, which I know you want to." He said. She didn't raise her eyes from where she was lacing up her boots. "Even after everything that happened in Hawaii, you seemed happier. Whether it was the place or the people, I'm not sure but really think about it." He said, laying a hand on her shoulder before he got up and left. Cristina pursed her lips before putting her heels in her locker before closing it.

 **XXX**

The day came and went and the bad guys were behind bars. Cristina took a sip of her beer as she sat on her couch, watching a game show. The thought of moving to Hawaii and taking the job seemed so good but she'd finally found a place for herself in Detroit. She'd worked her way up from nothing rather than working in the shadow of her dad in New York. She grabbed her phone off of the coffee table, kicking up her feet onto it before she hit the 1 speed dial. It rang a few times before it was answered.

"Taylor." Her father, Mac Taylor, said from the other end, making her smile.

"Hey dad. You're not busy are you?" She asked.

"I can make some time for you." He said and she smiled. "Are you okay? I heard about what happened in Hawaii from Kyle." She smiled again; she should have known her partner would have made sure that her dad knew what was going on.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was an easy surgery to get the bullet out and now Noel will, for sure, never walk the streets again." She smirked slightly.

"That's good." He said and she was sure he was smiling.

"How are things there?" She asked.

"Everything's okay here. There's nothing to really report." He said to her.

"That's good too." She said, beginning to chew her nails.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're chewing your nails, I can hear it. What's wrong?" She smiled slightly. Of course her dad would know all of her habits better than anyone else even while on the phone.

"I got a job offer from the Governor of Hawaii to join her Task Force." She answered.

"That sounds great. So where's the problem?"

"I've worked so hard to get where I am here in Detroit. I don't know if I want to leave." There was a moment of silence.

"You did call me when you got back to Detroit. You seemed so happy about meeting the Task Force and you seemed to love the island. I don't see why that would be a bad thing." He answered her.

"I know but –"

"Do what makes you happy and I'm sure Andrew already told you the same thing." She nodded her head, even if he couldn't see her.

"Yeah, he did."

"I'm not going to tell you what to do. You're 32 years old and you've experienced more than most. All I can tell you do it is to do what makes you the happiest. Whether that's in Detroit, Hawaii, or even back here." He said and she nodded again.

"You know, just talking to you I think has helped me a lot." She smiled. "Thanks dad."

"Anytime." He said, she could hear the smile in his voice. "Call me when you get the chance."

"I will. I love you."

"Love you too." Cristina hung up and set an alarm on her phone, reminding her to set up an appointment with a real estate agent on the island. She smiled as she set her phone back down on the table and picked up her beer again.

 **XXX**

It took three weeks to find the perfect house, move in, and speaks with the governor about the potential job but once that was all done, Cristina felt like she'd made the right decision. She would be starting as a part of the Task Force next week, even asking the Governor to tell them that they had a new member but keep her name a secret if she hadn't already told them. She was excited.

She sipped a beer as she sat in the sand of her own little beach. She had already taken a photo of the sunset and sent it to her dad and some of her closest friends from all of the previous jobs. She got replies of congratulations and envy, making her feel even better about the position she had landed herself in. She let herself smile, excited for what Hawaii had in store for her.

 **XXX**

She got out of the taxi, paying the driver and making a mental note that she needed to buy a car of her own, before walking into Five-O's headquarters. She took the steps, taking her time and making sure to take it all in. Her badge was sitting comfortably on her left hip with her Beretta M9 on her right. She couldn't help but smile when she got to the top floor and saw everyone working in their own offices. Off to the side, she saw an empty one, clearly having been cleaned out for her. When she reached the top step, she noticed Chin look up, since his office is right there. He smiled at her and it got even wider when he noticed the Five-O badge.

"You're our new member?" He asked when he was out of the office, gaining the attention of everyone else. She hugged him when he reached her.

"Yeah, the Governor offered me a job that I decided it was too good to pass up." She smiled at everyone else as they came out. They all greeted her and congratulated her with smiles and hugs. She already felt like a part of the team… a part of the family. She felt like she was ready for whatever Hawaii threw at her now.


	2. Ho'apono

**A/N: I'm starting with Season 1, Episode 7 since it seemed like a good place to start with Cristina in it. I will hopefully be following the episodes from now on! Please let me know what you guys think and if you want me to continue! Faves, follows, and reviews make me happy, help me to keep on track with writing, and lets me know I should continue!**

 **P.S: Each episode is some time apart considering that, from what I gathered, each season takes place within a year. I'm not totally sure but that's kind of how this story is going to go.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Cristina Taylor!**

 **XXX**

Cristina reached out of her blanket cocoon for her phone. She touched the screen, silencing the alarm. With a sigh, she unraveled herself and sat up, putting her feet on the hardwood floors. She walked over to her closet, pulling out her outfit for the day and slipping on a workout outfit before heading down the stairs to make coffee. She opened the doughnut box on the counter, grabbing one out and holding it with her mouth as she got the coffee maker started. Once that was done, she ate the doughnut quickly before stepping out into the living room.

She stretched quickly and thoroughly before beginning to go through her workout. She did push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, etc. When she'd finished, she glanced at her phone that was sitting on the coffee table playing music. She walked up the stairs to take a quick shower before putting her outfit on. She put on a pair of black jeans, a dark gray tank top with a dark green over-shirt. She sat down on the bed as she slipped on her black combat boots. She walked back downstairs, grabbing an apple this time before pouring her coffee in a travel mug. She added quite a bit of sugar before add French Vanilla cream into it.

She was pretty happy with where she lived. She had her own private beach with neighbors quite a distance away. She was even on the bus route that leads directly across the street from HQ. Being new the island, she really didn't have any time to get a new car. Every time she thought she would have time, she had to do something else either for the Governor to make sure she was fit for duty or just an increase in paperwork since Steve never seems to do his own. Cristina sat on the bus bench, sipping her coffee, eating her apple, and waiting for the bus.

She had to admit, other than taking the bus; she was falling in love with island. Everyone was so laid back and relaxed, it made her feel calmer. She stood up when the bus arrived. She smiled to the driver as she stepped on, getting ready for the ride.

 **XXX**

Cristina stepped off the bus, making her way across the street into the Task Force's parking lot. She stepped by the Camaro when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and read the text. It was from Danny, telling her that they had a case. She turned around and stepped over to the Camaro, leaning against it. A few moments later, Danny and Steve stepped out of the building. They both smiled when they saw here.

"When did you get here, you didn't come inside." Danny said, motioning to the building behind them.

"I just got here when you texted me. I didn't see a point in going all the way inside to just come back." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Good point." Steve said, moving towards the driver's seat. Danny rolled his eyes before walking over to the passenger seat. He opened the door and moved the seat up for Cristina to get into the back. She offered him a smile before slipping in. He set the seat back to normal before getting in after her.

 **XXX**

Cristina climbed out of the back of the Camaro, pressing the seat back before closing the door behind her. As they walked, a native woman in a suit met them. "Commander McGarrett. Detective Williams. Sergeant Taylor." Cristina raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything about the title change, figuring the Governor had something to do with it. "Wish we were meeting under better circumstances. Laura Hills." She said, shaking their hands. "I recently took over as Governor Jameson's new public safely liaison." Steve nodded.

"What do we got?" He asked.

"Suspect on board is Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Graham Wilson, SEAL Team 5." Laura handed a picture to Danny as she spoke. Cristina looked over the man's shoulder.

"Hang on. He's a SEAL?" Steve asked, looking a little confused.

"Heavily decorated." Laura replied as Steve took the picture. "He's holed himself inside with an unknown number of hostages." They all began walking to the ship.

"Any contact with him since he's boarded yet?" Danny asked the woman.

"He told our negotiators he would start killing hostages if we move in on him." Laura explained.

"Did he make any demands?" Cristina asked, putting her hands on her hips when they came to a stop.

"Just one: Find his wife's killer." Laura said, turning to the members of the Task Force. Cristina raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. That's interesting. When did that happen?" Danny asked.

"This morning. Her name was Noreen Wilson." Laura said as she took out another picture, handing it to Cristina, she glanced over it before passing it to Danny. "Graham's given us four hours to find her killer."

"I guess it would be too much to hope that he mentioned who did it. Any suspects?" The detective asked, passing the picture back to the Laura.

"Yes. Him." She answered, putting the picture back into the file. Steve and Cristina both turned their attention back to the woman. "H.P.D found Graham at the crime scene holding the murder weapon. When they confronted him, he ran."

"And he wants us to find the killer?" Danny said, his hands becoming very animated in the way that Cristina has learned he does. "I don't suppose telling him he did it would suffice, huh?"

"Right now my only concern is getting those hostages off that ship." Cristina glanced at Steve as he glanced at her. "Now, usually SWAT would handle something like this, but the Governor seems to think that with your background as a SEAL, that you'd be better equipped to handle the situation." Laura explained, looking at Steve.

"Him? And us," He motioned between himself and Cristina. "We're here for what? The entertainment or what?" Cristina took a step back to avoid Danny hitting her.

"Well, you can tell SWAT to sit tight. I'll go in alone." Steve said, beginning to turn towards the car.

"Excuse me?" "Okay, that's just stupid." Laura and Danny spoke at the same time.

"Graham's a SEAL. He's been trained in close-quarter combat. Which means, right now he has the high ground. You send SWAT in blind; they're gonna take heavy losses and more than likely get multiple hostages killed." Steve explained, looking between Danny and Laura as Cristina nodded her head. "If this guy didn't kill his wife, he deserves at least a conversation before we go in guns blazing. If he did, and he's gonna kill again, I'll take him out myself. But if you want my help today, you get it my way. I'm going in alone." The SEAL said before turning and walking back to the Camaro, Cristina following behind him. When they reached the car, she stopped by the driver's side and opened the door, reaching down to pop the trunk. Closing the door behind her, she made her way to the back of the car, reaching inside to pull out a gun case.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked as he watched her.

"Well, Mr. America. I'm not really letting you go in alone." She shut the trunk. He opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off. "SWAT are not Army-trained either. I was taught to move quickly and remain out of sight. Even if he's got the highest ground, I can still get close. I did it in Afghanistan and I'm pretty sure I can do it here." She said, setting the case on the trunk before popping it open. Reaching inside, she pulled out her M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. Steve looked down at the gun before nodding his head, continuing to put his stuff into a waterproof bag. She was checking the scope as Danny came over.

"Okay, let's say I am you and you are the bad guy here, okay?" Danny began, catching the holster that Steve threw at him as he continued packing. "I would know that all the ways onto the ship are visible somehow. So how would you outsmart yourself and get yourself onto that ship without yourself seeing yourself?" Danny asked… at least Cristina thought it was a question. His hands were flailing the entire time which she thought was adorable and kind of distracting.

"Okay. Was that an actual attempt at a question or are you just kind of throwing words at each other, hoping they make sense?" Steve asked and Cristina snorted, putting the gun to her shoulder and looking through the scope, adjusting it again.

"How are you… and apparently Cris, getting on the ship without Graham seeing? That's all." Danny asked, leaning back on the hood of the car.

"Graham is expecting a threat from land, not the water." Steve explained. He grabbed his bag. "I'm just going for a swim."

"Go for a swim? You're serious?" Danny asked, laughing slightly as he motioned to Steve. "Now you're shirtless. That's great." He continued with a smile as Steve pulled his shirt off. Cristina set her gun down on top of the case before slipping off her over-shirt, leaving her in her tank top. "Not you too." Danny said, motioning to her. She shrugged her shoulders lightly before reaching beside the case and grabbing a pair of gloves to put on, her index finger and thumb were uncovered while the rest were covered.

"Believe it or not, we've done this before." Cristina said, grabbing the gun and putting the strap around her body and adjusting its tightness.

"You've done this before?" Danny asked in disbelief. "You've snuck onto a floating museum to rescue a bunch of tourists who are being held captive by a man who is accused of killing his wife?" The woman turned to him when the gun was settled against her side.

"Okay, for the record, I didn't mean that literally." She waved her hand at him.

"Look, I can't see any other way of stopping this thing from escalating." Steve said to the other man. "We only have four hours."

"I believe it." Danny said. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

"Hold SWAT in position so Graham thinks we're still negotiating. In the meantime, Cris and I will board. I'll try to make contact while Cris' ready to go at any moment and you're investigating the murder." Danny and Cristina nodded. "I have to gain his trust, get him to see that we're working on his behalf. So maybe we can get these people out safe, Graham included. But only if he feels like I actually understand him." Steve explained, putting the remaining items in his bag.

"Okay, that's great." Danny said, turning to the ship before looking back at the two of them. "What happens when I investigate this case and find out he killed his wife, which he most certainly did? Then what?" Cristina pulled the slide back, loading a round in the chamber, gaining the men's attention.

"That's what I'm for." She answered.

"Hey, H.P.D says neighbors reported hearing screams coming from Graham's house." Chin said as he and Kono came over to them. "Cops arrived, found him with a knife in his hand. When they tried to arrest him, he fled the scene." He explained.

"They also found his 7-year-old daughter in the house hiding under a couch." Kono added. "She hasn't talked since Child Welfare services took her into custody."

"Maybe she saw something that freaked her out." Danny said and Cristina nodded.

"I'll go see the kid, see if she knows anything." Kono said, looking down at her notes. "Because I'm the only other woman on the team. You'd probably ask me to do it anyway." She said, glancing at Cristina and the gun against her side.

"It's not because you're a woman. It's because you're a rookie, which is way worse." Danny said to her causing Chin and Cristina to smile and Kono to roll her eyes.

"We'll have our phones on us but don't call, we'll call you, okay?" Steve said, motioning between himself and Cristina. Kono smirked as she began walking backwards.

"Bet you used that line before." Cristina chuckled.

"You know it." Kono laughed as she turned and began walking to her car.

"I'll initiate contact once I'm in a secure location." Steve said, looking at Chin.

"That one too." Chin said with a smile. Cristina chuckled as Steve threw his bag over his shoulder and began walking to the ship. She followed right behind him.

"Good luck, Aquaman. Snake Eyes." She laughed at the name, saluting the blonde as she went a different direction from Steve.

"See you soon Mr. America." She said, saluting him.

"Later Wonder Woman." He saluted her back as jumped down behind a small wall to put his boots in his bag. Cristina jogged to the front of the ship, kneeling down behind some bushes and using her scope to find out where Graham was. She didn't see him anywhere near the windows so she turned her gun around, making sure it would stay in place as she ran across the open area and jumping when she reached the edge of the dock, she managed to catch a rope keeping the ship in place. With a sigh of relief that she'd made the jump she swung her legs up, hooking her ankles together and shimming all the way up the rope. She let her feet drop when she was close enough, reaching out to grab railing of the ship and pull herself up. She instantly drew her Beretta when her feet touched the deck. She quickly made her way under one of the cannons, glancing to her left when Steve stepped under the other one to put his boots back on and look at the map he'd pulled from his bag.

 **XXX**

Cristina followed Steve through the ship quietly, checking every nook and cranny for Graham. Steve turned a corner and Cristina heard someone say "what the-?" Before Steve held up his hands.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy, easy, easy. Okay?" Cristina glanced around Steve's large frame to see an older gentleman standing there. "We're here to help. Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett and First Sergeant Cristina Taylor." She nodded her head and the man let out a breath.

"It's about time some backup arrived." He said. Steve stepped closer to the man while Cristina put her back to the wall, glancing around the corner. "Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Ed McKay, U.S. Navy. Retired." Steve glanced at Cristina and she nodded her head. He turned back to the man.

"You're running a tour?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ed answered. "I heard shots fired, then it was chaos, people running everywhere. I was able to evac most of my group, but a few fell behind and that lunatic took them hostage."

"How many?" Steve asked.

"Seven. He took them that way towards the wardroom." Ed said, motioning down the hall. Steve glanced at Cristina; she glanced around the corner and nodded again, telling him it was still clear.

"Okay. Good work, Boats." Steve opened the map. "Listen, getting off the ship right now is too dangerous. Is there a safe place you can lay low for a while?" He looked up at the older man.

"I'm not hiding anywhere and you put those blueprints away, because I'm coming with you." Ed answered. Cristina looked over at them at the same time Steve's brow furrowed. "Those are my people that he's got. I walk this ship front to back five times a day. There's not a person alive who knows it better than I do. Certainly not some map." Steve looked over at Cristina; the woman shrugged her shoulder, glancing around the corner again.

"Okay. But I say "jump," you say "how high?" You hear me, sailor?" Steve asked the man.

"Yes, sir." He said, saluting Steve.

"Stay out of sight, no matter what I do."

"You got it." Steve turned to Cristina, nudging her shoulder. She nodded, pressing the gun to her shoulder before making her way quickly and quietly down the hall, glancing down every room and hallway they came across. Steve was right behind her, his gun drawn as well with Ed behind him. Cristina stayed silent as Steve began to fill Ed in on the situation.

"So you think this guy killed his wife?" Ed asked.

"He's gone to a lot of trouble to say he didn't." Steve answered. Cristina stopped, holding up her hand to make the two men stop behind her. She knew it was killing Steve to let her be in front but he was doing a good job not saying anything. She heard talking and as they walked slowly closer she was sure Steve could hear it as well. He followed on her heels like a shadow. She pressed her back to the wall, peeking around with her gun up. The _Officers Mess Hall_ door was open just enough so that she could see Graham inside, pacing. She could also see a few hostages sitting on the ground. She felt Steve touch her shoulder and then that same hand touch her waist. She glanced back at him before looking at Graham, seeing that the knife was in the same place he'd touched her. She nodded her head at him. Steve and Ed moved back to hide to the left of the door while Cristina went to the right, kneeling down and balancing her left elbow on her knee to settle the rifle. She watched Graham through the scope as much as she could without moving and drawing attention to herself. She glanced over at Steve as he pulled his phone from his pocket and putting it to his ear. She assumed he was calling Danny. "Yeah, we got eyes on him." He whispered. "He's armed and holding seven hostages. Behavior's pretty erratic." There was a pause. "No, with his training, this scenario shouldn't bother him but he's paranoid. He's unstable. You know what? Check if he's been treated psychiatrically." Steve glanced at Cristina, who nodded her head slightly from where she was. She shifted away from the wall slightly, adjusting her position. Her knees were beginning to hurt her but she couldn't focus on that. "Good, sounds like you're making progress." Cristina glanced at him before going back to the scope. "Oh, yeah. Wish you were here but you don't swim, do you?" Steve asked and Cristina turned away from the scope again to raise an eyebrow at Steve.

"Are you talking to your wife?" Ed asked and Cristina had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"I'm talking to my partner." Steve answered and Ed shook his head. Cristina turned her attention back to the scope. Steve continued to talk to Danny; she heard something about PTSD which would make sense with his behavior. Cristina jumped slightly when something clanged behind Steve. She moved quickly, getting behind the wall and pressing her back to it.

"Who's out there?!" Graham yelled. Cristina watched as Ed and Steve exchanged quick words. Steve handed the man his bag before taking Ed's hat and putting it on. He ran past her to grab a bracelet that you would wear on the tour before running back in the direction they'd come from. He nodded to Cristina before he disappeared. She glanced around the corner, seeing Graham coming closer and closer to the door. She flipped the safety off and got as close to the corner as she dared without him seeing her, the butt of the rifle cradled tight against her shoulder.

"Hands up!" Graham yelled as Steve walked into the room from one of the back doors. She sighed as she flipped her safely on again, glancing around to look through the door. Once Steve was in the room, the ship fell silent once more. Cristina wasn't sure how long she waited before she glanced around the corner again when she heard a struggle. A man tried to take Graham on before the woman's attention was drawn to something that fell. Steve reached out and picked it up, she could only assume that it was the knife. She flipped the safety off when Steve got made. Graham knew he wasn't a tourist. She stood up and leaned around the corner when Graham started yelling about the knife but Steve quickly talked him down. Cristina knelt back down and flipped the safety on again; knowing Steve seemed to have the situation under control.

 **XXX**

Cristina leaned against the wall, listening to Steve tell a story to try and gain Graham's trust. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and rang up Danny. "Hey." She whispered.

"Hey, babe. Everything okay?" She tilted her head in response even though he couldn't see it.

"Kinda. I'm not really gonna go into details right now." The man hummed. "Do you have anything new?" She asked.

"Yeah. He does have PTSD and he suffers from black outs which means that he could have killed his wife and would never even know it." The detective explained.

"If that's the case, this is going to be really difficult." She said, glancing around the corner again. "I just find it hard to believe that it was him. This is a lot of trouble to say _'I'm innocent'_. She said to him. The door closed and Cristina glanced around the corner. One of the hostages was coming out; he stopped when he saw her. She put a finger to her lips as she lifted her tank top to show him her badge. He nodded before continuing on his way out. "Hey, I'll call you back, I just lost my visual."

"What?" Danny asked, sounding concerned.

"I'll call you back." She said, hanging up the phone and putting it back in her pocket. She walked to the door, putting her ear to it so she could hear. She turned ran quickly and silently back and around her corner into the first open door when she heard someone coming towards the now closed door. She listened silently as Graham told the hostages to move down the hall, away from her. Counting the footsteps, she could guess there was one missing. She peeked out the doorway and saw she was right, Steve was nowhere to be found. When she was sure that Graham was far enough away that he wouldn't hear or see her, she made her way into the room. She jumped in surprise and raised her gun when she saw Ed. She lowered it before giving the man a glare.

"What are you doing here? How did you even get in here?" She asked. The man smiled.

"I came back to help and I told you before, I know parts of this ship that aren't on any maps." She watched him for a moment before nodding her head. She turned her gun around, putting it against her side as Ed managed to get the door free that Cristina was sure Steve was behind. The older man leaned in, smiling at Steve. "I figured you'd want your things back." He said, holding the bag out to the younger man.

"How did you get past Graham without him seeing you?" She heard Steve ask the older man.

"Well, I know things about this ship that aren't on your map."

"I thought I told you to stay put?"

"Hm? I'm an old man. I don't always hear so good. Hm?" Ed said to him and Cristina chuckled. Steve came out of the room, rolling his eyes. He pulled the knife out of his pocket and handed it to Cristina before pulling something else out. When he placed it in her hand, she saw that it was a powder foundation. She set the foundation down and carefully opened the knife. She moved it this way and that, before she saw a fingerprint in the blood. She set the knife down before opening the foundation and using the brush to lightly brush over the print.

"I'm glad you knew what you were doing, Steve." She said as she set everything down and pulled her phone out of her pocket, taking a picture of the print and sending it to Chin.

"That could be what clears him." Steve said, watching the woman work.

"You really think he's innocent, don't you?" Ed asked, placing a hand on his hip.

"My team's motto is "leave no man behind." Now we just need to find him." Cristina closed the knife before handing it back to Steve. The man put it back into his pocket.

"Where do you think he took the hostages?" Ed asked as Cristina picked up all of the things from their little makeshift lab.

"He'll need another place with a good view of the gangway. The best place would be the pilot house." Steve answered.

"Well, I know a shortcut." Ed said and Cristina smiled as she picked her rifle back up.

"Lead the way." She said.

 **XXX**

The ship seemed easier to navigate with Ed there giving them directions. After a short climb up a latter, they ended up outside. Cristina and Steve walked over to the edge and looked down; they were above Graham and could see him walking around. Steve pointed to her and then laid his hand flat. She nodded her head before leaning against the wall, using it to settle herself and her rifle. Steve nodded to her once more before he and Graham went a different way. She glanced at Steve when he ran over to her. "What's up?" She asked.

"Get ready." He said and she nodded. Steve put on a gas mask and pulled out a smoke grenade out of his pack. He threw it into the window that Graham shot out. Cristina knelt down, looking through her scope to get a clean shot of Graham. She saw Steve with Graham coming up behind him, there was nothing she could do to tell him. In a matter of seconds, they were out of sight. She heard someone walking behind her, before she turned to look, her gun ready when she saw that it was SWAT. She tried to wave them off but SWAT and Graham began exchanging fire. Cristina rolled out of the way to avoid any stray bullets. It was a quick shootout before all the firing stopped. She stood up and quickly found a latter than would take her a floor lower. She followed SWAT, watching Steve had Graham's gun over as they arrested him. She let out a sigh of relief so see that the other man was okay.

 **XXX**

Cristina and Steve followed the three SWAT members who were excorting Graham off the USS Missouri. She looked over at Steve as the man patted her back. "So, how was your first real case with us?" He asked with a smirk. She chuckled lightly.

"Too much. I might move back to Detroit." She said, smirking back.

"No way, can't leave now. You're stuck with us forever." He said with a chuckle and Cristina clicked her tongue.

"Damn. That sucks." They both laughed softly when they saw Danny's Camaro pull up. Kono, Chin, Danny, and Graham's daughter Lily all got out of the car.

"Hey, hold up." Steve said as the two of them jogged to catch up with SWAT. "Give him a minute with his daughter, will you? No cuffs." One member of SWAT nodded his head, reaching down to uncuff Graham. The man rubbed his wrists, looking at Steve before making way over to his daughter, hugging her close and talking to her softly. Cristina nodded to Graham as she and Steve walked by him to rejoin their team.


	3. Mana'o

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone! Every time I tried to sit down and edit something would come up or my ADD would kick in and I would completely forget what I was doing, lol! I hope you guys enjoy this story! Knowing you guys like it helps me stay motivated to write it! :D I'll try to post again before next week, on Sunday or I might just wait until Monday. But anyway, please enjoy and don't forget to fave, follow, and review please! It would mean a lot to me!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Cristina Taylor!**

 **XXX**

Cristina rolled out of the blanket cocoon, tapping his phone screen to turn off the alarm. She groaned as she stretched before she got up to walk to her closet. She threw her outfit on the bed before slipping on her workout outfit. She made her way down the stairs, grabbing an apple on the way to her coffee machine. She set it up and hit the start button, opting to make a travel cup coffee rather than a pot. She stepped into the living room, beginning to stretch.

Five minutes into her stretches, there was a knock at her door. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was barely seven. She stood up and walked over to the door. As she opened it, she was greeted with the sight of Chin on the other side. She tilted her head slightly.

"Hey Chin… what's up?" She asked.

"We got a case. High priority." He said and she turned to glance around the living room for her phone.

"I must've left my phone in my room." She turned back to the man.

"No big deal, I was on my way to get you anyway." He began. "Danny told me to take the bus and we need to get there as soon as possible." She nodded her head, stepping aside to let the man in.

"I'll run upstairs to get dressed. I'll be right back." She said, already making her way up the stairs. She grabbed her outfit and slipped it on. She slipped on her dark blue jeans before pulling on a pair of black heeled ankle boots. She slipped on a maroon, three-quarter sleeved V-neck Henley. She pulled her hair into a ponytail before glancing at herself in the mirror. She slipped her dog tags around her neck before nodding to herself; grabbing her phone and putting it into her pocket before making her way back down. She walked into the kitchen, prepping her coffee in her travel mug before walking back into the living room. Chin was sitting patiently on the couch. "Alright, let's go." She said, making her way towards the door. She grabbed her keys and waited for Chin to step outside. She closed the door behind him and locked it before putting the keys into her laptop bag. She walked over to Chin's motorcycle, watching as the man settled on the seat. Cristina threw her leg over, settling as well. She adjusted her bag behind her and her coffee in one of the saddle bags.

"You ready?" He asked and she nodded. He started the bike; Cristina could feel it rumble to life underneath her. "Hold on." He said before taking off down the road towards The Palace.

 **XXX**

"Official COD is two shots to the chest, close contact." Chin said, opening a file on the smart table. When he did, multiple crime scene photos, along with the photo of the officer before came out. "Everything else was postmortem." Cristina watched as Danny rubbed his face.

"Alright, close contact." Danny began. "Might have been someone he knew. What about the slugs?"

"Forty-fives." Cristina answered, looking at her tablet sitting beside her. "I running them now but I don't have a hit just yet."

"I checked with the luau organizers." Kono said. "The imu pit was dug and prepped the night before. The ME's guess was that the body was put there between 4 and 5 a.m."

"So no witnesses?" Steve asked.

"Somebody actually had to dig up a pig and replaced it with Meka's body. Nobody saw anything?" Danny asked. "I find that very hard to believe."

"I'll tell you, killing a cop like that, putting his badge in his mouth, that's no average crime. That's someone sending a message." Chin said, looking down at the pictures.

"Well, I wanna know who sent it." Danny said, leaning onto the table.

"Could relate to something Meka was working on." Chin looked up at him.

"Alright, Chin, you and Kono go to Meka's house, talk to his wife." Steve said to them.

"Her name's Amy. Her son's name is Billy." Danny said to them.

"Good, okay. See if Meka left any of his case work at the house. Danny and I will follow up with H.P.D. Cris, I want you to stay here and keep running ballistics and maybe find an old case with the same signature. We might be able to find out someone involved." She nodded her head.

"Who's the lead detective on the case?" Chin asked.

"A sergeant name Cage." Danny answered.

"Cage? You sure?" Chin looked up in surprise, asking Danny just to be sure he'd heard him right.

"Yeah." Steve glanced between Chin and Danny before turning back to the dark-haired man.

"Why, you know him?" He asked.

"Yeah but Cage isn't homicide. He's a headhunter. Internal Affairs." Danny glanced at Cristina before looking back down at the table.

 **XXX**

With everyone gone, Cristina was able to work as much she could. She was using her tablet, her laptop, and the smart table all in the main room. She checked the ballistics on her tablet; it was still running so she decided to use her laptop to check through the old case files to hopefully find something that would lead them in a positive direction. She shifted from foot to foot when she heard her phone going off from her pocket. She reached back and grabbed it, hitting the accept button, she brought it to her ear. "Taylor."

" _Hey, Danny wants you to go through Meka's e-mails. Meka bought one plane ticket to Singapore next week. Maybe there's something there."_ Chin said when she answered. She nodded her head, balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

"You got it." She began typing on the smart table. "I'm going through the case files now and am still running ballistics. I'll call as soon as I have something definitive."

" _Alright."_ Chin said as she hung up. She put her phone down on the table beside her, continuing to work on all three devices when her phone began ringing again. Checking the time, she'd been at it for another thirty minutes. She accepted the call.

"Taylor."

" _Hey Cris, I need you to do me a favor."_ Danny said.

"What's up?" She asked, getting ready to type. She opened a new search on her laptop, waiting.

" _I need you to look up at the Ochoa Cartel. Anything you can get from them would be great."_ She typed quickly as Danny spoke.

"Ochoa Cartel? Got it. You got a lead?" She asked.

" _We think so. We're headed back you're way so get what you can and we'll talk about it when we get there."_ He said to her and she nodded.

"You got it." She hung up her phone, diving deeper in what would hopefully be a good lead.

 **XXX**

About fifteen minutes later, the rest of the team had come back. "What did you get?" Danny asked as he walked over to stand next to the woman.

"Well, I know that Kaleo wasn't kidding. The Ochoa Cartel doesn't fool around." She clicked on a picture, bringing it up on the monitor so that everyone could see it. "So, this is a car bomb that exploded on the steps of a courthouse in Juarez." She clicked another picture. "This is a cop burned in a roll of rubber ties in Oaxaca. And then there is these federales, they were the first to be found with their badges in their mouths." She leaned forward on the table, looking over at Danny.

"Just like Meka." He said quietly.

"Kono, did you get anything off Meka's laptop from the house?" Steve asked the native woman.

"No, the hard drive was wiped clean but I'm running a sweep on it for deleted files." She explained.

"According to the DEA, one of the family's top lieutenants, a guy by the name of Emilio Ochoa, is the one responsible for the hits." Chin said as he came to stand next to Cristina, pressing a few pictures so that they appeared on the monitor. "So if he's here—"

"I want him." Danny said, turning back to the monitor.

"Question is how do we get him?" Kono asked.

"Through his product. We find Ochoa's distributor on this island. That's how we get to him." Steve said, pointing to monitors.

"We're looking for a new player on the coke market; you know who we got to see." Chin said, looking around at everyone.

 **XXX**

Cristina followed Chin, Danny, and Steve over a man selling shaved ice. When he saw Chin, he smiled. "How's it, Chin? Good to see you. And my two favorite overdressed white boys. How's it, brothers?" He asked and Cristina chuckled. "And who is this pretty lady?" He asked, looking at Cristina. She smiled, holding out her hand.

"Cristina Taylor, you can call me Cris though." The man took her hand with a smile.

"Komakona. You like shaved ice?" He asked and Cristina looked down at the cart.

"Blue raspberry?" She asked with a small smile. The man smile back, quickly making her one before handing it to her. As she reached for her money, he shook his head.

"On the house." She smiled and grabbed a spoon.

"Thanks." She stepped back, standing beside Steve.

"No problem sistah."

"I think I'm gonna like it here." Steve rolled his eyes with a small smile.

"Oh, bro, this cart is the kind." Chin said to Komakona with a smile.

"It's the future kind. It's what the tycoon's refer to as a franchise. No more brick, no more mortar. That's old-school." Cristina smiled as Komakona talked about the cart.

"We were wondering if you had a line on a different kind of distribution franchise coming into Oahu." Steve said to him, getting serious.

"Yeah. We're not talking about shaved ice. More like snow." Danny explained and Komakona looked up at Chin surprised. The other man nodded his head. "Okay, let me guess. Let's have three snow cones and a couple oversized T-shirts. How about that? Help you with your franchise."

"It's not about the funds, brah." Komakona said, all the teasing from earlier was gone. "This is dangerous territory we're treading into. Brother could get hurt, you know."

"Somebody already did get hurt." Danny said to him. "And he was a friend of mine. Understand?"

"Hey, how about a little kokua, brah? We could sure use the name of the new connect in town." Chin said and Komakona looked around before handing him the snow cone he was making. "You guys like modern art?"

 **XXX**

Cristina walked through the exhibit, glancing around. Her black, one-shouldered, mid-thigh dress fit in perfectly to what the other women were wearing. She even had Kono help her put her shoulder-length hair into an elegant updo. She walked around, looking at all of the art while also scoping out the people around her. Being a part of the BAU helped a lot with reading body languages. The woman was never really into art. She glanced up from the art she was looking at when Danny came into her line of sight, nudging his head towards a man in a fedora that had walked past her. She nodded her head softly, falling into step behind Kono. The younger woman went to grab the champagne at the same time the man did.

"Hi." He said to Kono before Chin bumped into him, giving Kono enough time to grab his wallet. She immediately held it behind her back for Cristina to grab as she walked by. Once the wallet changed hands, Kono was walking in the opposite direction. She pretended to bump into Steve, allowing him to grab her arms.

"You okay?" He asked and she nodded her head.

"I'm fine, thank you." As she pulled away from him, he ran his hand down her arm, taking the wallet when their hands passed. Cristina offered him a smile before she wandering back into the party. She walked around the party a few more times, stopping at a few pieces that didn't really make sense to her. As she made her way back towards the backroom she felt someone walk up beside her and put their hand on her lower back.

"Shall we go check on them?" Chin asked with a small smile and she nodded.

"I believe we shall." She said back, allowing the man to turn her towards the curtain she saw Steve and Danny go into. When they stepped inside, they all drew their weapons.

"Freeze. Five-O." Kono said as she and Cristina had their weapons trained on two of the guards.

"Put the gun down, get on your knees." Chin said as he walked up behind another guard, his gun trained to his back. All of the guards put their guns on the ground and dropped to their knees as Chin, Kono, and Cristina kept their guns trained on them.

"Babe, let's go!" Danny called to her. She glanced up at Chin and Kono, both nodded to her. She nodded back, putting her gun back into her bag, before she turned to follow Steve and Danny out.

"So, what's the plan?" She asked when she was walking next to Steve.

"We'll just have to see."

 **XXX**

That's how Bastille, the man who was going to tell them where Ochoa was, ended up strapped to the hood of Danny's Camaro. The blonde man was speeding and to make it even more interesting, there was plenty of traffic. Cristina sat silently in the backseat, pulling off her heels to give her feet a rest. "Just for the record," Steve began. "If I pulled something like this, you'd read me the riot act about proper police procedure."

"No, I'd probably just arrest you." Danny answered calmly, never taking his eyes off the road. Bastille was screaming and banging on the windshield but none of them paid him any mind.

"When compared to this, hanging a guy off a roof and throwing a guy into a shark cage is pretty tame." Steve spoke again and Cristina raised an eyebrow.

"You did those things?" She asked and the man looked over his shoulder and smirked at her.

"Maybe." She rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

"No, I disagree. The shark cage was way worse than this." Danny answered back to Steve's original point before the brunettes had begun talking.

"Well, whatever. You're wrong." Steve said back to him. "I'm just saying to be clear, next time, I get a free pass. Okay?" Danny didn't answer before he pretty much drift up a parking garage, causing Steve to smirk. Once at the top, he slammed on the breaks before putting the car in park. Steve and Danny got out, the former pulling his seat up and holding out his hand to let Cristina out of the car. She didn't bother with her heels since she was probably going to take them off as soon as she got back in the car. The three of them walked to the hood, standing on each side of Bastille.

"How you feeling?" Steve asked. "Did the ride kick-start you memory at all?" Bastille turned to look at Steve.

"You're insane." He said.

"Where is Ochoa?" Danny asked him this time.

"I cant—I can't."

"Alright, that's okay." Cristina said, waving a hand in the air. "Let's take him around one more time." She said, turning to make her way back to the passenger door. Steve following behind her.

"Hell no!" Bastille said.

"You know what we should do?" Danny said, gaining their attention. "Let's loosen these a little bit. He'll slide a little bit more."

"That's a good idea." Steve said as he and Danny began loosening some of the cables.

"We got a full tank of gas." Danny said to the man on the hood. "We can do this all night."

"Wait, wait. No, no!" They all stopped, waiting to see what the man had to say. He sighed. "There's a shipment coming in tomorrow. Ochoa is meeting me at Waialua at the old coffee plantation." Cristina nodded her head, leaning her hip against the car.

"Okay, how is Ochoa smuggling cocaine on shore without getting busted?" Steve asked. Bastille looked at the three of them before turning back to Steve.

"He has a man inside H.P.D. Tells him every single move the cops make." Cristina turned to watch Danny.

"Who?" Cristina asked.

"I have no idea. I do not know. He is the only one that knows." Danny nodded his head. "Ochoa is the only one that knows. I swear."

"Sure about that?" Danny asked.

"Absolutely sure. I swear." He said again. Both Steve and Danny turned to Cristina. She had worked with the BAU; they were learning to rely on her when it came to reading people. She nodded her head, letting them know that, as far as she could tell, he was telling the truth. Danny pursed his lips and nodded his head.

 **XXX**

"You guys get Bastille to talk?" Chin asked when the other three members of the team stepped inside.

"Uh, yeah. Danny gave him a little nudge." Steve said and Cristina chuckled.

"Alright, according to our middleman, Ochoa is bringing in a big shipment tomorrow night." Danny said as they all came to stand by the smart table.

"We're going to be there when it happens." Steve said to Chin and Kono.

"On Meka's computer, anything about who he would see in Singapore?" Danny asked.

"No." Kono answered. "But in his deleted Internet history, there was a cloud site that he visited frequently."

"You tapped into the offsite server?" Cristina asked, placing her heels on the ground and leaning against the table.

"Oh, yeah." Kono pressed something on the table. "Wire transfers. Six-figure transactions from an Ochoa shell corporation in Mexico to an encrypted account in Singapore."

"Well, that explains why he was gonna go there next week." Steve said and Danny immediately turned to the taller man.

"Why? I don't get it."

"Singapore is like the new Switzerland." Cristina said, waving a hand around like she was holding a flag.

"Right." Steve motioned to her. "It's one of the few places post 9/11 that didn't change its banking confidentiality laws. So they can actually hide the account holder's ID, even from the authorities."

"Okay, so Meka was on a money trail. Right? He's going there, lean on the bank, try to find out who the account holder is." Danny said and Steve rubbed his face. Cristina shook her head but Steve either wasn't listening to her or didn't see her because he spoke anyway.

"Yeah or Meka was the accountholder and he was looking to run." Cristina rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

"Yeah or that." She heard Danny reply.

"Look, I know you like to remind me I'm not a cop–" Steve began.

"You're not." The shorter man replied with a small nod.

"Whatever. But I know enough to realize that where there's smoke–" Cristina shook her head again.

" _Where there's smoke?_ " Danny repeated. "Should we write that on the wall? _Where there's smoke? 'Your Honor, he's quilty. Why? There's smoke.'_ "

"Busts gone bad, wire transfers, hidden accounts, a ticket to Singapore his wife didn't know anything about." Steve explained all of the reasons that they could pin Meka as the leak but it didn't feel right to Cristina.

"We have no proof that the transfers and accounts belong to Meka." She said, putting a hand on her hip as she turned to Steve. "They're encrypted. We're not getting in there to even check. I get it, it all looks bad on him but we can't just jump conclusions here."

"How would you know?" Steve asked, turning to the woman and crossing his arms over his chest. She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her own arms.

"Well Mr. SEAL… I have worked as a CSI and a Homicide Detective as well as a Behavioral Analyst for the last sixteen years. I started when I was 16-years-old. I have seen some shit and if I have learned anything from this it's that you can't always assume that everything is black and white because it's not." She glared at the man; the rest of the room was silent. "Everyone's so inclined to think that Meka was taking money from Ochoa. Give me evidence." Steve scoffed, motioning to the table they were standing beside.

"You want evidence Taylor? There's your evidence!" She shook her head.

"Nothing in these documents has his name on it. That's not incriminating evidence to me." She stood her ground against the six-foot man.

"What more do you need?" He asked, looking down at her.

"His name on something that specifically ties him into things. I've been in the middle of an IA investigation with many different friends. I know how once you begin to believe things, you sights become clouded. Everyone is saying that is Meka because of this "evidence" but we don't even have any real details attaching him to this."

"We have the Singapore ticket." Chin said, turning their attention to him and keeping Cristina from going after Steve's throat.

"Why would he even decide to leave the country?" Danny asked.

"Maybe because IA was closing in on him." Kono answered him.

"Ochoa couldn't afford Meka getting caught and talking, so he had him killed." Steve spoke again. Cristina opened her mouth but Chin beat her to it.

"And this is based on what, an IA witch hunt?" He asked.

"You know what? I'm done. How about that?" Danny said, looking at everyone. "If my word is not good enough for you, then I do not know what I'm doing here." He glanced at everyone once more before he turned and made his way to the door. Cristina glanced at Chin and the man nodded. She walked into her office, dropping the blinds on the front wall before changing her dress into a pair of black skinny jeans, tucked into a pair of black combat boots. She wore a gray Henley with a hood and thumbholes. She was pushing up the sleeves to her elbows as she came out of her office, making her way to the door, Chin following her.

 **XXX**

Chin knew exactly where to go to find Danny. He smiled at the bartender as he came in. "Hey JJ, set me and my Hoaloha up." Cristina turned to him.

"I'm hoping that what you just said about me was nice." Chin chuckled as he sat on Danny's left while Cristina sat on his right.

"And one more for my buddy here." Chin said the bartender, motioning to Danny as he sat down.

"Good timing." Danny spoke. Cristina nudged Danny's shoulder softly with hers and he gave her a small smile.

"His old man was the same way you know." Chin said, gaining their attention. "McGarretts. They got this laser focus embedded in their DNA. That's why it's good sometimes to remind them their way isn't the only way that works." Danny nodded as he listened to the other man.

"Yeah. Right now, somewhere, Steve just twitched." He said, smiling slightly when he get Cristina and Chin to laugh.

"He'll come around." Chin said. The bartender came over, laying down Danny and Cristina's beers.

"Thank you." The blonde man said.

"Mahalo." She said with a small smile, hoping she'd pronounced it right.

"Look at that, she's catching on to the language of the island." Chin said in a proud voice. Cristina chuckled as took a sip of her beer. "By the way, I really admire what you're doing for Meka." He said to Danny after they took a sip of their beer.

"Well, it's the same thing anybody would do." Danny said as if everything they were doing was no big deal.

"I wish that were true, bro. Would've saved me a lot of grief." Chin said, smiling at him. "Truth is, when a bully like Cage goes on the attack, most guys back down. They get so quiet; you'd think their mouths were glued shut."

"Yeah, well, it makes me sick that no one stuck up for you." Danny said to the other man. Cristina had heard briefly about Chin's past. He was a member of the Honolulu Police Department before he was accused of taking money from evidence. As he said, IA did an investigation and concluded that he took the money, costing him his job.

"Cage comes hard, bro." Chin said. "He was convinced that I was on the take, so he convinced everyone else of it too. The lengths he went to try and expose me." Chin said, looking down at the bar. "You know, he tapped my phones. He went through my garbage. Talked to my lieutenants, my old partner. He kept digging and digging until he could find any weakness, anything he could exploit. Eventually, he put a cloud of guilt so thick over my head; he turned my desk into a ghost town." He reached over and grabbed his beer, refusing to look at Danny or Cristina. "The loneliest place on Earth is where no one believes you."

"Well, we got your back now buddy." Danny said as he and Cristina touched their bottles to Chin's.

"And I'm in your corner 1,000 percent. So you tell me what you need." Chin said to the blonde. He sighed.

"I need to clear Meka's name. So I think I gotta listen to McGarrett. I gotta go see somebody."

"That's a first." Cristina said, taking a sip of beer, chuckling and trying not to choke when Danny playfully tried to push her off the barstool.

 **XXX**

"We appreciate you wanting to help, Detective Kaleo." Steve said to the man standing between Chin and Danny. "The name of the game is stealth. Okay? Ochoa. He has a meeting on the books with his middleman Bastille right here. It's an old coffee plantation. We'll make sure the meeting happens as planned." Cristina listened as she put on her vest over Henley.

"Except Bastille will have a couple new bodyguards escorting him?" Kono asked.

"Exactly." Steve said.

"So nobody makes a move until we see the coke and the deal is in play." Chin spoke next. Cristina opened a rifle case, pulling out her M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle. "We do this by the book or the charges don't stick."

"Yeah, no cowboy crap, alright? We need him alive and able to speak." Danny said, shrugging his button up shirt back on over his black undershirt and bullet-proof vest.

"So I can blow out his kneecaps?" Cristina asked, putting the rifle to her shoulder and checking her scope.

"Theoretically." Steve said and Chin chuckled.

"That's a little scary." Cristina chuckled.

"What about SWAT or air support?" Kaleo asked.

"No. The only real support we're going to have is Sergeant Taylor and she's going to be sniping for us." She nodded her head, adjusting her scope again. "She'll be far enough away that Ochoa shouldn't know she's there. If he senses any backup, he'll be in the wind."

"The hell do you think you're doing?" A man came in and she could only assume it was Cage.

"Oh, hey Sergeant. It's called police work. I got a book; explain the whole thing to you." Danny said, smiling at Cage. Cristina snorted and pressed her gun to her shoulder, looking through the scope for the last time before adjusting it to what she thought would be perfect.

"Word in Narcotics is you're going after Ochoa. That true?" He asked.

"We can neither confirm nor deny that." Cristina said, smiling sweetly at the man before cocking the rifle, letting a bullet slide into the chamber and turning the safety on.

"Listen to me, Detective." Cage said, aggressively moving towards Danny. "I've been working with the DEA on a RICO case for months. So if you're going after Ochoa, I'm coming with you."

"Hey, in my office, you listen to me." Steve said, raising his voice to get the man's attention. "Sergeant, DEA? What are you talking about?"

"They approached H.P.D about a number of blown Narco cases." Cage said to Steve before turning his attention to Danny. "Cases specifically involving your friend Meka and Emilio Ochoa. Then for some reason Meka got himself killed. We think it's because he got greedy. You think he was gonna take down Ochoa. I wanna know which one of us is right. Don't you?" Cristina sighed and put her rifle between Cage and Danny, pushing more into the former's chest.

"I would like you to take a step back from my friend before I make you." He turned to her and opened his mouth. She held up a finger. "I would be very, very careful what comes out of your mouth because, while we're both Sergeants… I am a highly trained specialist from the United States Army. I could take you down before you could even blink." He watched her for moment longer before he took a few steps back. She lowered the rifle to her side. "Good boy." He scowled at her and she raised an eyebrow.

"I love her so much right now." Danny whispered to Chin and the other man chuckled.

 **XXX**

Cristina laid flat on the ground, looking through her scope. "I have eyes on four guards for Ochoa outside the van, passenger side." She whispered to Chin and Kono, even though as far out as she was, there was no chance of Ochoa hearing her. The maroon van carrying Danny, Steve, and Bastille pulled up. When it did, Ochoa stepped out of the passenger seat and two of the guards opened the back of the truck. "Ochoa in my crosshairs."

"Remember, we need him alive." Chin said back to her.

"10-4." She replied, watching and following every move that Ochoa made. She could see Chin, Kono, Kaleo, and Cage getting into place. She nodded softly, adjusting her scope once more, making sure she was at the right distance and that the image she was seeing was clear, she couldn't afford to fatally injure the man. "I know that this will be the last time I'm scoping for you guys." She said to the others, even though they didn't reply, she knew they heard her. The men spoke, Bastille throwing the money over. They spoke for a few moments more before Bastille ran off. No sooner than he was gone, Cage came around the corner, blowing the entire plan to hell. "Of course." She said, taking in a deep breath, flipping the safety off, before letting it out. On the exhale, she pulled the trigger, nailing one of Ochoa's men in the temple. She pulled the slide and let the casing come out. "Boom." She did the same thing, tagging about one. Cristina was able to find Ochoa and she aimed and fired, missing his legs by an inch. "Damn. Ochoa's out of sight for me. Coming down." She said into the ear piece.

"Roger that." Chin said as she began packing up her gun back into its case. Silence settled before there were two singular gunshots. The thing that struck Cristina was that they didn't sound like they came from the guns Five-O was using, rather a handgun. She glanced up and everyone followed the sound of the shots. She finished packing up her gun before she made her way down the hill towards the vans.

 **XXX**

"Come with me." Kono said as she walked by Cristina's open office. The older woman's brow furrowed in confusion before she dropped her pen and followed her into Danny's office. "Coroner report is back." She said, holding up the paper. "Ballistics confirmed that the .45 on Ochoa was the same gun that was used to kill Meka." Cristina glanced over her shoulder as Chin came in.

"There's something else." Chin said, showing the pictures to Cristina before she passed the tablet to Danny. "Check out the circular marks around the bullet holes."

"Muzzle burns." Danny said, looking at the picture.

"According to the ME, Kaleo had to be pretty close to leave marks like that." Kono explained.

"Anywhere from the muzzle touching his chest to 6 inches away." Cristina said, sharing a bit of knowledge she'd learned about it.

"That's not self-defense." Chin said, looking from Cristina to Danny.

"Looks more like an execution to me." Steve said to his partner.

"So why didn't Ochoa shoot if Kaleo was that close to him?" Kono asked.

"He wouldn't have perceived Kaleo as a threat if he knew him." Cristina answered. "I see it all the time in these close quarter cases. You let your guard down and that's when they get you."

"Hold on. Hold on." Danny said, holding his hands up. "Or it wasn't Ochoa's .45." Kono and Cristina looked at each other. "Kaleo. Kaleo planted that gun on Ochoa after he killed him."

 **XXX**

Walking into H.P.D, Danny led Cristina and Steve right towards Kaleo's desk. He was surrounded by some of the other officers and as they got closer, she could hear what he was saying. "Oh, that was mean. I don't know how the hell it happened. Ochoa had me dead to right. I just was lucky to get the first shot off." She snorted.

"Lucky?" Danny asked when he was close enough. He walked behind Kaleo's chair until he was on the right side of him with Steve and Cristina on the left. "You know, it takes a lot more than luck to do what you did, to pull off what you pulled off. I mean, I'm actually impressed."

"What are you talking about?" Kaleo asked the blonde detective.

"Let me ask you a question, because I'm curious." Danny continued like he hadn't heard the other man's question. "With Ochoa dead and this case closed, does it bother you at all that IA still thinks Meka is the mole?"

"I don't wanna believe it, but if they got evidence to prove– " Kaleo began before Danny cut him off.

"Evidence." Danny said, glancing up at Cristina before turning back to the man. "Funny thing about that." Steve dropped the papers he was holding onto his desk. He looked between Steve, Danny, and Cristina before looking at them.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Records of wire transfers from Ochoa to an account in Singapore." Steve answered. "You see, Meka was on his way to meet authorities there to get them to release the identity of the account holder."

"So? What's that got to do with me?" Kaleo asked them, still playing dumb.

"Well, you know, everything." Cristina said, drawing the man's attention to her. "I mean, considering the account was yours and all." Kaleo looked down at the papers.

"Get the hell out of my face hoale." He said, looking back up at her. She raised an eyebrow. "The case is over. We got the guy."

"You have been selling out this department for months." Danny said, getting into Kaleo's face. "Selling out these guys to anybody willing to pay the price, alright? Meka found out about it. My friend found out about it, so you shot him. You shot him and you threw him in a fire pit. Then you killed Ochoa. Then you planted the gun on him so it would look like he killed Meka. And what you did–" Kaleo looked away from Danny and Cristina knew that everything the man was saying was right on the money. "Look at me. What you did was impressive, because you thought you cleaned everything up. But you made one mistake, because you're stupid." Danny pointed behind the small group of officers watching. Chin and Kono walked in with a convict that she learned was named Sang Min. He looked at Kaleo before nodding.

"That's him." He said. Kaleo's face dropped when he saw the other man. Danny glanced up at her and she nodded.

"You killed my friend." Danny said to him before Kaleo tried to get up. Danny pushed him back into his chair. "Sit down." He punched the man three times before Cristina walked over to him.

"Danny. Danny, that's enough." She said to him. He punched him one more time before letting him go. Cristina reached out and grabbed his arm, gently leading him away from the desk. The two of them made their way outside before Chin, Sang Min, and Kono followed. They left Steve to put the cuffs on Kaleo.

 **XXX**

Once they were outside, Cristina stepped in front of Danny, putting her hands on his biceps to stop him. "We got him Danny. Relax." She said to him. He took in a deep breath and nodded. She offered him a small smile as she reached up and cupped his cheeks. "We got him." The man nodded, looking into her eyes before Cristina stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. The man didn't hesitate, wrapping his arms around Cristina to pull her tightly against him. He burrowed his face into her neck. She could feel the shaky breaths he let out. Her left hand rubbed small circles between his shoulders, over his spine, while her other gently scratched at the nape of Danny's neck. They stayed like that for a moment before he pulled away. Taking in a deep breath and clearing his throat.

"Thank you… for everything." He said to her and she smiled.

"We're a team. It's what we do." He nodded before they turned to the entrance, the others (plus Sang Min) had just come outside.

"I have a promise to keep. Do you think you'll be okay with the others?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, don't worry about me." She offered him a small smile, which he returned.

"Okay." He said before they turned and walked over to the rest of the team. Danny took Sang Min, saying he was going to take him back to prison while Kono, Chin, Steve, and Cristina made their way to Kono's car.

 **XXX**

Cristina slipped out of the Silverado. Steve had been nice enough to drive her to Meka's house for his memorial. She adjusted her Dress Blues jacket, following Steve, Kono, and Chin inside.

"What are you guys doing here?" Danny asked as he came over to the four of them.

"We came to pay our respects." Chin said to him. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Thank you." Danny said, patting Chin and Kono on the arm as they went by. Cristina offered Danny a smiled, hugging the man and he hugged her back. When she pulled away, Danny sigh and smiled at Steve and Cristina.

"I appreciate you both being here. I know you didn't know him." The blonde man said.

"I know you." Steve said and Cristina smiled.

"Thank you. Come on." Danny said, motioning for the two of them to come deeper inside the home. Steve and Cristina made their way to Amy, introducing themselves to her.


	4. Po'ipu

**A/N: Again, sorry for the long wait everyone! I think it would just be easier to say that this story (and my other active ones) have not been forgotten and I will update them whenever I get the chance! Please don't forget to fave, follow, and review to let me know if you guys are liking the story! It would mean a lot to me!**

 **P.S. This was supposed to be uploaded like a week ago but I had a really bad storm and lightning killed my modem so… I finally got it posted though! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Cristina Taylor!**

 **XXX**

Cristina blinked her eyes open. She grabbed her phone off of her nightstand and looking at the time. She'd managed to wake up just before her alarm so, instead of trying to go back to sleep, she rolled out of bed and made her way into the kitchen. As she began her coffee, she weighed her options and decided that she was going to go for a swim rather than actually working out. As the coffee brewed, she made her way back upstairs and put on a black bikini and grabbing a towel from the linen closet and her phone before making her way back downstairs. She poured herself a cup of coffee, making it how she liked it before heading out her backdoor to the water.

She wasn't a big swimmer but when you have your own private little beach, you learn to appreciate it. She set her coffee, phone, and towel down on one of her chairs before making her way towards the water. When she was waist deep, she dived in. She wasn't sure how long she swam but the sun was beginning to come up when she made her way back to her stuff. She dried her hands and wrapped the towel around herself, picking up her phone and her coffee. Her coffee was lukewarm and the time said that she'd been swimming for an hour. Taking a sip of her coffee, she ran back upstairs to hop in the shower and rinse the salt-water off.

She quickly got dressed in a dark blue fitted shirt with a pair of gray stonewashed jeans. She put on a pair of black combat boots before she pulled her hair into a ponytail. She made her way downstairs, grabbing an apple and putting her coffee into the microwave to warm it back up before she put it into the travel mug she used. As she placed the lid on, there was a knock at her door. She turned to the door, raising an eyebrow before walking towards the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw Danny standing there. She opened the door and smiled.

"Hey." She said and he smiled back.

"Hey, you're ready." He said, glancing at her outfit.

"Yeah, I was getting ready to leave. What's up?" She asked. Danny motioned to the Camaro sitting in her driveway.

"Since you're still taking the bus, I figured I'd come give you a ride, we have to meet Laura anyway since we've already gotten a case." The woman nodded her head as she took a bite of her apple.

"One sec." She said, holding up a finger to the man. She grabbed her phone, putting it into her back pocket before grabbing her coffee and keys. She made her way outside, closing the door and locking it before turning to him. "Let's go." Danny nodded, heading back towards the car with Cristina following behind him. She smiled when she saw Steve in the driver's seat. She stepped around to the passenger seat, letting Danny push the seat up before she got into the back. Danny settled the seat back to normal before getting in and closing the door. Steve started the Camaro before backing out and heading in the direction of their case.

 **XXX**

Cristina followed behind Danny and Steve as she ducked underneath the yellow police tape. As soon as they saw her, she turned to them. She stepped towards them, a man at her side. "Tom Matthews, Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, Detective Danny Williams, and First Sergeant Cristina Taylor from Five-O." Laura introduced them. They all shook the man's hand. "Tom is running security on the foreign aid summit." Steve nodded his head.

"Alright, what do we know about this victim?" He asked.

"His name is David Atwater." Tom said. "A diplomatic service agent assigned to General Pak's advance team."

"General Pak is arriving today from Sandmar for the aid signing." Laura continued. "And a lot of people do now want General Pak here." She turned and grabbed a newspaper sitting on the table. She turned back to them and handing it to Steve.

"From what I see on the news, a lot of people don't want him alive either." Danny said, crossing his arms and rocking back on his heels.

"Atwater was on the trail of one of these people. He called Tom a few hours before his death saying that he had information about an assassination plot." Laura continued.

"Why not give details over the phone?" Steve asked, still holding the newspapers. Cristina was pretty sure he was reading the article.

"He said we had to meet." Tom answered. Steve glanced at the paper in his hand before passing it to Danny. "We were scheduled to do that at the hotel bar last night. Atwater didn't show. I went to his room and found his body." Danny handed Cristina the newspaper, she skimmed over the article.

"So you got the call and you found the body?" Danny asked the man. Tom smiled at the shorter man.

"If you wanna waste what little time we have investigating me, Detective Williams, go ahead." Cristina glanced up at him, nodding her head.

"Oh we will." She said, folding up the paper and putting it under her arm. The man smiled at her before turning to Laura and then the Five-Os.

"I'll be in my office." He said to Laura before he began walking away. "Gentleman. Sergeant." He said to Steve, Danny, and Cristina. Cristina could see Danny rocking back on his heels as the man left.

"Whatever the threat assessment was, it's now changed." Steve said to the Laura. "Why don't you just postpone the general's trip?"

"It is critical that General Pak attend this summit, McGarrett. That's why the Governor has you on this. You're to find Atwater's killer and assist in protecting Pak and his family when they arrive." The woman explained. Cristina raised an eyebrow and glanced at Danny, the man glancing at her, before they both turned their attention back to her.

"I'm sorry, did you say assist? Who am I assisting?" Steve asked. The woman turned her head, motioning to someone coming towards them.

"This is—"

"No way! What's up, bullfrog?" Steve said, laughing before clapping his hand. He took a few steps over to the new man and hugged him.

"Ah, smooth dog. Been a while." The other man said as he hugged Steve. Danny turned to Cristina mouthing ' _Smooth dog?'_ The woman shrugged her shoulders before turning back to watch the pair.

"It's been a long time." Steve said when they pulled away from each other. Even Laura looked a little confused by the development. "Uh, Nick served under me in the SEALs." The ex-SEAL motioned to the man next to him.

"Three years in the 'Stan." Nick said, turning to Steve.

"In the 'Stan. What is the 'Stan?" The blonde man beside Cristina asked.

"Afghanistan." Cristina said, glancing at him before turning back to Nick.

"I'm sorry… but have we met before… you look familiar?" He asked the woman.

"You may have seen me once or twice before. First Sergeant Cristina Taylor, former Army Ranger." He smiled a, what Cristina could only call, charming smile.

"Ah, well. It's very nice to meet you for real this time." She shook the hand he offered her, giving the man a small smile.

"You too." She could feel Danny looking between the two of them as Steve was.

"Nick, this is my partner, Danny Williams." Steve motioned to the blonde man.

"How you doing?" Nick asked, finally turning his attention from Cristina to Danny, offering him his hand to shake.

"Good, how are you?" Danny said back as they shook hands.

"I figured you'd re-enlist." Steve said to the other ex-SEAL at his side. "When did you get out?"

"Two years ago." Nick answered. "Got my own shop now."

"Alright man." Steve said before the pair fist bumped. Cristina could see Danny out the corner of her eye and she saw him make a face. She bit her lip to keep from smiling before they turned their attention to Laura when she began speaking.

"After last night's security breach, the Sandimar government decided to beef up their protection detail. They hired Nick's firm to protect General Pak and his family." Steve turned to him, tapping him on the chest with his hand.

"Of course." He said, turning back to Laura.

"Wow." Danny said, gaining everyone's attention. "So you got, uh, genocide, ethnic cleansing." Cristina put her and on her forehead, rolling her eyes behind her eyelids. "That's a great client you got." Nick glanced at Cristina; she could feel it even without looking, before he turned to Steve.

"Well, you know, my team and I are here to do a job, just like you." Nick said to the shorter man.

"No, not just like me. See, I'm a cop. I don't get to choose who I protect." Cristina uncovered her eyes and watched as Danny's hand began flying. "You do and you choose this animal." Cristina glanced at Nick, Steve, and Laura… they looked about how Cristina felt. "And I'm sure our pay grades; our rates are a little different." Danny made the difference with his hands.

"Okay, enough." Laura said, finally getting Danny to shut up. Steve turned to Nick and smiled at him.

"I'm gonna do a dry run, map out the AO and check the choke points." Nick said, looking between Steve and Cristina. They both nodded.

"Alright." Steve said as the man began to walk away. Danny laughed, pulling both hands out of his pockets as he turned to face Nick.

"What are you saying? Excuse me? Can you translate, smooth dog, huh?" He turned his attention to Steve.

"AO is the area of operation. All the areas we need to put on full lockdown on General Pak's route from the airport to the summit site." Steve explained. Cristina turned to the man at her side.

"And choke points are areas where the motorcade could get slowed down or ambushed." Danny made a similar face to earlier before biting his lip and nodded at what the two had said.

"Okay, I got an idea. If you guys are gonna keep talking like this, maybe we can get a dictionary." Cristina rolled her eyes, putting her hands over his and pushing them down and away from his face, effectively stopping his flailing.

"Alright, I'm sorry about him. It's good to see you." Steve apologized, pointing to Danny before pointing to Nick.

"I'll call you later." Nick said with a smile, giving Cristina one of her own, before he turned and continued walking.

"Alright." Steve said. Danny saluted him before turning to Cristina. The woman raised an eyebrow at him. He glanced at Steve before scoffing and walking by Cristina.

"You're very sensitive." She said as she turned to follow him.

"Are you jealous?" Steve asked.

"No." Danny answered.

"It was jealousy." The ex-SEAL said before Danny finished his answer. They had stepped inside the hotel, walking down the hall to the room where Atwater was killed. "You don't like him, do you?"

"What gave it away?" Danny asked.

"Oh, all the smart, sarcastic comments were a good start." Cristina said with a smile. Danny shook his head and gently nudged her with his shoulder.

"You didn't like me at first either." Steve said to the blonde.

"Let me explain something to you. I will never like that cheese ball." Cristina's brow furrowed as she looked at the man walking beside her.

"Cheese ball?" She asked but no answered her.

"I get that you were built without a censor button." Steve said, causing Cristina to snort before she covering it with a laugh when the blonde turned to her. "But if we have to go to guns on this case, you'll be happy that he's on our side."

"Okay, if we have to go to guns on this case, happy is not one of the emotions I will be expressing. Okay?" Danny said to him before they walked into the room. Both men sighed when they saw the body, lying on the bed with his throat slashed. "Wow. A guy gets murdered right before he's about to blow the top off of an assassination plot. The killer thinks that now nothing is standing in his way."

"Yeah, except us." Steve said, looking at Cristina and Danny. "No foreign dignitary has ever been killed on U.S. soil. General Pak is not about to be the first."

"Alright, while you guys do whatever it is you're going to do…" She held out her hands. "I'm going to run an errand to the Crime Lab at the department." Danny looked at her hand before looking back up at her face.

"You want my keys?" He asked, pointing to himself.

"That would be why my hand is out, isn't it Daniel?" She smirked at him.

"Oh, you think calling me that is going to help your case? It's not but nice try." He said, turning back to the body.

"Come on! I'll come back and pick you up. It is literally me running to the crime lab and making sure my equipment was sent to HQ so that I can run all of the evidence before sending it to H.P.D." She said, putting her hands on her hips. Danny glanced at her before looking at Steve, who was trying so hard to hide his smile at the two.

"You think this is funny?" He asked. Steve looked over at him.

"A little bit." He said, finally smiling.

"A little bit?" Danny asked, putting his hands on his hips. He jumped and smacked at Cristina's hand away when it reached into his pocket and grabbed his keys. "Hey!" He yelled as the woman began jogging to the door.

"I shall return!" She yelled into the room as she disappeared around the corner.

"Unbelievable." Danny said, turning back to the room, looking for anything to tell them about their killer. Steve noted the small smile on Danny's lips. He could act like it all day long but he truly didn't mind Cristina playing around with him like that. They had a bond and even though they didn't spend a lot of time together, it was easy for Steve to see it forming.

 **XXX**

Steve and Danny waited patiently for Cristina. "Where is she?" Danny said, looking down at his phone to check the time.

"There is such a thing as traffic, Danny. I'm sure she's on her way." Steve said, looking down at the shorter man. He heard the familiar sound of the Camaro engine and smirked, pointing in the direction it was coming from. "Speak of the Devil." She pulled up beside them, rolling the window down.

"Get in losers, we're going shopping." She said, quoting _Mean Girls._ Steve chuckled while Danny rolled his eyes. Steve opened the door and pushed the passenger seat forward, waiting for Danny to get in.

"Oh no. See, if I can't drive my car, there is no way in hell I'm sitting in the back." Steve leaned down and looked at Cristina in the driver's seat.

"I'm not moving." She said and Steve rolled his eyes before folding himself into the backseat. Danny moved the seat back into its original position before he got inside and closing the door. "Where are we going?" She asked, looking at both men.

"HQ please driver." Steve said with a smirk.

"Alright, I see how it is." She said, shifting the car into drive before pulling out onto the road. The ride was in silence for the first few minutes before Danny spoke.

"Answer a question, both of you is preferred. Anything about this case bother you?" He asked.

"Everything about this bothers me." Steve said and Cristina hummed, turning on her blinker to switch lanes.

"Why not kill the general in Sandimar?" Danny asked again.

"If it was me, I'd want to hit the general where his security detail is the weakest. In Sandimar, he's surrounded by an army. I mean, the general never leaves Sandimar, so if they don't get him here, they don't get him." Steve said from the backseat. Cristina glanced in the rearview mirror, half looking at Steve and the other half was to turn her blinker back on and get back into her original lane.

"This means we need to find Atwater's killer before that happens." She said before the car fell silent. She heard Steve shift in the backseat.

"What is that?" He asked, pointing to the visor above her head.

"What's what?" Danny asked, looking over at the man.

"That." Steve said, leaning even further forward.

"That is a picture of Grace." Danny answered. Cristina glanced up.

"That's your daughter?" She asked and Danny hummed. "She's really cute." She smiled at Danny, who smiled back.

"No, not that. That." Steve said reaching up and taking something from the visor. Cristina smacked his arm as it crossed over her line of vision.

"I'm driving here." She smacked his hand again as he deliberately put it in her sights. The man chuckled before showing what looked to be a postcard to Danny.

"Oh, that's a visual aid. Just a reminder of a better place." The blonde man said with a smile. Cristina glanced over; it was either New York or New Jersey. She couldn't be sure without seeing it fully.

"A visual aid?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Cristina sighed; she knew where this was going.

"Danny, this is a postcard, uh, of New Jersey." Steve showed it to the other man.

"I know exactly what it is. I bought it. I'm not afraid to say it. I miss home. I'm a little homesick. Okay?"

"It's okay to be homesick." Cristina said, looking over her shoulder at Steve. "I'm a little homesick."

"I miss Sal's Steakhouse, Frankie's, Manny's." Danny said.

"You realize how much of your life revolves around food?" Steve asked and Cristina bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"You realize how much of your life revolves around armed conflict?"

"Let me ask you a question. Where do people from New Jersey vacation? Or New York for that matter." Steve said, dragging Cristina into it. She shook her head, making another lane change.

"Don't bring me into this." She said.

"Too late." Steve said with a smirk. She rolled her eyes.

"I should have let Danny drive, then I could have hit you without worrying about crashing." She muttered to herself, even though she was sure that they both could hear her.

"Well, I don't know." Danny answered. "I would imagine they vacation all over the place."

"Okay, and you're, uh, aware of the fact that perhaps many people from New Jersey and New York vacation here in Hawaii?" Steve continued.

"I'm sure some misguided people do."

"How many Hawaiians do you think vacation in New Jersey?"

"I don't know."

"I can help you with that answer if you want. The answer is zero, Danny. Because nobody here, except you and maybe Cristina, wants to be there. Okay?" She glanced over at him before turning her eyes back to the road. "Because aside from a couple of great singers, New Jersey doesn't exactly scream—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Danny said, turning to the man leaning in between the seats. Cristina switched lanes, shaking her head.

"I need my own car." She muttered to herself.

"A few great singers? Sinatra. Springsteen." Danny began. "Jonathan Bon Jovi." Cristina nodded her head.

"Can't go wrong with Bon Jovi." She said and Danny motioned to her with a bit of flailing.

"I'm sorry, Bon Jovi?" Steve asked.

"Absolutely Bon Jovi." The blonde said back.

"You're serious?" The ex-SEAL asked, looking between the two in the front seat.

"Right up there. _Wanted Dead or Alive._ " Danny said, naming a classic.

" _You Give Love a Bad Name._ " Cristina said and Danny motioned to her again.

"Song titles?" Steve asked.

"We're giving you classic song titles." Danny said. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Of course the New Yorker would agree with you." She looked at him over her shoulder.

"I can stop this car right now and we can go at it. Don't underestimate me Smooth Dog." The man shook his head.

"All I'm saying it, it's cool with me if you want to have a photo of Grace. But any other additions and decorations to the interior of this vehicle should be treated like a wire-tap request where you need my authorization." Steve explained. Danny listened silently before leaning forward slightly to look at Cristina.

"Someone's a control freak." She said.

"You can ride in the trunk if you don't like it." Danny said with a sassy look on his face as well as tone in his voice. Cristina snorted. "I'll get real Jersey up in this piece." This time Cristina did laugh. Cars began honking around them. Steve leaned back into the seat and looked out the window.

"Looks like General Pak has a fan club." He said. There were people on both sides of the road, holding various signs.

"This makes me so sick. We might have to take a bullet for this guy." Danny said.

"If we do our job right, that's not gonna happen." Steve said, still looking out the window.

"Even if we get her, I mean, what are the chances she's working alone?" The blonde asked.

"Very slim." Cristina said, pushing her hair back away from her face.

"Hey, not only are we going to find her, we're gonna find her, then squeeze her to flip her partners." Steve said, leaning back between the two seats.

"I want you to know something. When I took an oath to protect the people, General Pak is not who I had in mind." Danny said to them. Cristina nodded her head.

"Me neither." Steve said, leaning back in his seat.

 **XXX**

"We pulled a partial print off the "do not disturb" sign she touched. Everything else appeared to be wiped down." Kono said, beginning the debriefing of everything they knew. "We ran it. No hits in the system yet."

"What's all this?" Danny asked, motioning to the table.

"Well, you mentioned on the phone that you didn't have a clean full shot of the assassin's face, so I built one." Chin said, leaning over the table to begin pressing pictures.

"I pulled two different camera still off the security footage. This left profile from the bar and this right profile is from when they exited the elevator." When combined, they made a full facial image. "I grabbed bits and pieces from other shots and added them to the two base images and created a composite." He said as he went over to get the images printed from the printer.

"You have got to show me how to do that." Cristina said, smiling at Chin as she took the image from him.

"Nice work." Steve said, looking at the image.

"Wow, they guy built a face." Danny said, also looking.

"Okay, listen, add the prints you pulled and circulate this picture to H.P.D, NCIC, FBI, Interpol, and Airport and Marine Securities." Chin nodded his head at Steve's request. "Kono, keep digging into General Pak's background. I wanna know if he has any enemies at home who wanna target him here." Kono nodded her head.

"Okay."

"We also need a list, uh, of protestors that were at the summit that H.P.D has on a watch list for making threats." He looked at everyone before giving them a tight smile. "I'll do that."

"Remember, General Pak has a lot of people who hate him. So don't confuse making a threat with being one." Steve said to Danny as the other man walked away. "Forget the cranks and focus on the people who actually have the means to pull something like this off." He grabbed the picture and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Danny asked the taller man.

"I'm going back to the summit, review site protection detail. Call me if you get anything." He said, walking backwards as he talked to Danny.

"You got it." Cristina nodded her head before an H.P.D officer came in, carrying a box.

"That for me?" She asked and the man nodded. "Great, thank you so much."

"What's that?" Kono asked.

"The evidence we have so far." She said, pulling the top off the box.

"You're going to run it again?" Danny asked, leaning against his doorway. "That seems like a wasted effort, especially if they have already done it." She looked up at him.

"It's always better to have a second set of eyes." She smiled at him as she took the box to the elevator, hitting one of the lower floors which she'd set up as her own personal crime lab. From this point on, now that it was complete, any case that Five-O worked on, she would be able to run the evidence first and then send it to H.P.D to get a second opinion. This time, she was still getting the lab in order so she went ahead and sent everything to them first.

 **XXX**

Cristina stepped out of the elevator with the results of the evidence. Everything had matched up with what the H.P.D crime lab had gathered. She stepped into Steve's office. "Well, my evidence results are the same as H.P.D." She dropped the file on the desk.

"What is it with you? What do you do? Attract conflict?" Danny asked as he came into the office. "I have been gone for two hours and you conduct two raids. What do you got planned for lunch?" She turned her attention back Steve and raised an eyebrow.

"Two?" She asked and Steve sighed.

"Did you run Nae Shan's alibi?" He asked Danny.

"Yeah, he's clean. Checks out." The blonde man said before motioning to the desk. "What are you doing?"

"Running additional background on Agent Atwater. Something doesn't make sense." Steve said, going through another file.

"Okay, just please stop for a second. We have a room full of guns. Alright? We need to be looking for the people that were hired to fire them. Not investigating our murder victim, a decorated agent with a spotless record." Danny said to him. Cristina watched as the flailing begins.

"So tell me, how does your decorated agent know about this assassination plot?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. Okay? Same way we would. An investigation, an informant." Danny began counting on his fingers. Cristina held up her hand.

"If I recall correctly, Matthews said that nobody authorized an investigation within the detail." Steve nodded at her before going through another file.

"And if it was an informant, why didn't he download Matthews on the first call?" Steve asked as he made his way to the door, opening it and stepping out into the main room. Cristina and Danny followed him. "Why demand face-to-face?"

"I don't know." Danny answered. "Maybe he didn't want to relay that kind of information over the phone. Atwater said he wanted to meet Matthews alone. Maybe he was gonna report a threat inside the protective detail. Maybe someone he knew, a friend."

"Maybe Atwater was the inside man. Part of the team behind these guns that are gonna be used for the assassination." Steve said and Cristina rubbed her forehead before pushing her hair back from her face.

"We have zero evidence connecting Atwater to this plot." Danny said, flailing in his motions.

"But why kill him? He's not running the detail. He didn't set the route. I mean, Atwater's an advance man. What made Agent David Atwater so dangerous to these people that they had him killed before General Pak arrived?" Steve asked them and Cristina glanced at Danny, biting her lip.

"It kills me to say this but…" Danny looked at her. "He has a point."

"Okay, wait a minute. Hold on. This hurts my head." Danny said, standing up to his full height from where he was leaning on the table. "Alright, if you're right and Atwater was compromised, the only reason he would call Matthews is to come clean, turn himself in."

"They killed him before he could reveal the how and where." Cristina said, leaning her hip against the table.

"You're good." Danny said, pointing to Steve.

"I know." He said, nodding his head.

"No luck with the assassin's photo canvas." Chin said as he and Kono came into the room. "No hits at the airport or marinas yet."

"Prints from the hotel room as a match to prints from the dead woman's home." Kono said to them. "It's the same killer. And we also got a hit from the Interpol red notice." She clicked the table, the documents appearing on the monitor. "CIA. It's a locked NFN file. National security. Even you don't have clearance required to view it." The woman said to Steve.

"Oh, good. So the killer's CIA?" Danny asked.

"I would say ex-CIA." Cristina said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So does anyone know anyone that can open a locked CIA file?" Kono asked the team.

"I might." Steve said. Cristina pursed her lips and nodded.

"Of course he does." She waved her hand at him.

 **XXX**

"Her name is Erica Raines." Nick said, placing the pictures down on the table for them to see. "She was with the company for nine years. Recruited right out of college. A virtual ghost in the community. She's a mechanic and a very good one." Kono and Cristina looked up at him.

"A mechanic?" They asked at the same time.

"An assassin." Nick said, looking at Cristina. The woman nodded her head before looking back at her picture.

"Mechanic?" Danny questioned before laughing. "Okay. Look. Nick, can you just do me a favor and just stop? Alright?" Cristina and Steve watched as Danny stood up from his chair. "From now on, the company is the CIA. Alright? The mechanic is the assassin." Kono looked between Steve and Cristina. Steve gave Kono a face before turning back to the two of them. Cristina winked at her before watching them as well. "And people, let's stop referring to what you people do as "the community". You're not a community. The Amish people, they have a community. Alright? Alright, let's just say what things are. Please?" Cristina reached up and grabbed one of Danny's flailing hands, gently pulling on it until the man sat down in his seat. She rubbed his back and he leaned into it.

"She specializes in seducing her targets and killing them." Nick began again. Danny waved a hand at the man before Cristina laid a hand on his shoulder. "She had an op go bad in Jordan. Went off the grid for two years. Next time she appeared on the agency's radar, she was a gun for hire with no loyalty to any government or organization."

"Oh good. Maybe we can hire her to kill herself." Danny said before Cristina moved to sit on the edge of her seat, leaning into Danny.

"Please, for once just behave." She whispered in his ear, ignoring the slight shiver she felt run down his body. He glanced at her over his shoulder, nodding slightly.

"We got a hit on her picture canvas. She's been spotted at Aloha Tower buying her ticket for Josephine Cruise Lines." Chin said as he came into the room.

"Okay, so she's trying to escape to another island." Steve said, glancing at Danny and Cristina.

"And fly out from there." Nick said.

"We need her alive." Steve said as he stood from her chair. "She's our only link to whoever's behind this assassination plot."

"Since I didn't get to blow out Ochoa kneecaps do I get another chance?" She asked as she followed the rest of them.

"If you get a shot but only the knees." Steve said, pointing at her. She playfully saluted him as she made her way to get her things.

 **XXX**

Cristina slipped out of the car, jogging down the street looking for Erica. She slowed to a walk, looking around, finally seeing her leaning against a palm three while on the phone. Cristina glanced around, stepping around the tree she was standing by so that she was behind the woman and out of her sights.

" _I got her. I got her._ " Steve's voice said in her ear.

"Right there with you." She said, holding up her arm so that Steve would see her.

" _I got you._ " He said and she dropped her arm. Cristina pulled her Beretta out of its holster, making her way slowly and carefully towards the woman, keeping an eye on her and Steve.

"Show me your hands. Show me your hands." Steve yelled to her. She held up one hand before pulling out a gun and firing on him. She turned and began running right for Cristina.

"Don't move." Cristina said, stepping out from her hiding place. The woman paused before raising her gun, Cristina remembered to aim non-vitally but by the time she'd remembered the Erica had pulled the trigger, catching her thigh. Cristina dropped to one knee. "Shit!" The woman switched sides, getting the tree between her and Cristina. Chin and Kono ran by her but Danny stopped, seeing her leg.

"Hey babe, you alright?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, nothing too bad." She held out her hand to him. "Help me up?" She asked. He nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her to his side, supporting the weight of her bad side as they made their way towards the others. Steve was kneeling by the woman while Chin and Kono watched on. He turned to them.

"She's dead." Cristina nodded her head.

"I was hoping for payback but alright." She winched when she shifted her weight. Danny looked down at her leg.

"Just relax, babe. We'll get you checked out." She nodded her head.

"You alright Cris?" Steve said as he came over to her. Chin was calling it in.

"Yeah, nothing major was hit but the bullet is still in there." He nodded. "You gonna take her to the hospital?" Danny nodded his head.

"Yeah. Come on cripple." He said, turning and gently leading Cristina back to the car.

"That's rude." She said to him and he chuckled.

 **XXX**

"There, you should be good to go." The doctor said as he wrapped the wound. She nodded her head.

"Thanks." He gave her a kind smile.

"No problem. I'll get you your prescription for your pain medication and I'll be right back." She nodded her head, not bothering to tell the man that she wouldn't take them anyway.

"So what happened?" Danny asked. Cristina scoffed.

"Steve happened." She waved an arm. "She saw him and opened fire on him. She ran in my direction and I tried to stop her. I was taught in the army that when someone is aiming a gun at you, you shoot to survive. I had to remember we wanted her alive and I left myself open." She sighed, sliding off the table, supporting most of her weight on her right leg.

"Hey, it's not entirely you fault." He said with a small smile. She chuckled.

"Yeah, that makes me feel better." The man smiled wider at her laugh. "When is Pak supposed to arrive?" Danny looked at his phone.

"An hour. Enough time for you to go home and get changed. I don't think we should show up to the airport with blood on your pants." He motioned to the jeans she was wearing. She looked down at them.

"Yeah, I guess that would be a bad thing wouldn't it."

"Maybe a little." Cristina chuckled.

"Are you sure you're okay to do this?" Danny asked, motioning to her leg. "Are you sure you don't want to just hang out at home for a while, heal up?" She shook her head.

"No, I want to do this." She said, smiling at the doctor when he came in. They spoke briefly about the medication before telling her that she could leave whenever she was ready. She grabbed her stuff, attaching her badge and gun to her belt before they made their way into the hall.

"I'm sure you do, I'm just worried." The man said as he opened the passenger side door of the Camaro, jumping back to their previous conversation in the exam room. She turned to Danny before she got in.

"I was blown up in a Humvee while I was in Afghanistan. I think I can handle a bullet to the leg." She said, patting him on the cheek before she sat down in the car, allowing the man to close the door behind her.

"That's comforting." He muttered to himself as he came around and got into the car. He started the car and began driving in the direction of Cristina's house.

 **XXX**

Twenty minutes later, the pair pulled up in front of Cristina's little two story house. They both got out of the car, Cristina walked up the walkway with a little limp. She opened the door, stepping inside with Danny right behind her.

"I'll be right back." She said, making her way up the steps towards her bedroom. She changed her clothes out for a charcoal gray three-quarter sleeve shirt, a pair of black cargo pants before putting the combat boots back on. She stepped into her bathroom, fixing her ponytail before nodding to herself. She walked back down the steps to see Danny looking at the various pictures around the living room. "You ready?" She asked and he nodded, turning to her.

"Wow, babe. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a tiny McGarrett." He motioned to her outfit and she rolled her eyes at his smirk before nudging him towards the door.

"Let's go sweetheart." She said, smirking when Danny turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"I don't like that." He said, waiting for her by the door as she closed and locked it.

"I didn't hear you ask about calling me babe." She said, smiling at him as she turned to walk towards the car.

"I call everyone babe!" He said after her, following her.

"Not that I've heard!" She called back, getting into the passenger seat while being careful not to bump her leg. She watched as Danny sighed as he walked around the front of the car. She couldn't help but smile when she saw the ghost of a smile across his face. She really did like Danny and it seemed like he liked her. He settled into his seat, glancing at her and chuckling before he started the car and headed to Hickam Air Force Base.

 **XXX**

Cristina stood beside Steve as General Pak, his wife, and son came off of the plane. "Can I ask you a question? What kind of animal brings his wife and his kid to a place where he knows people are trying to kill him?" Danny asked.

"The kind that loves a good photo op." Chin answered.

"He wants people to see him as a father and a husband, not as a mass murder." Danny said, waving his arm towards the General. Cristina glanced as Kono came to stand beside her.

"Hey, did you get anything off the assassin's phone?" Steve asked her.

"No, H.P.D's scrubbing it now." Steve nodded before glancing at the general.

"Alright, look sharp." Steve turned and opened the door of the black SUV. Danny and Cristina stepped inside as Chin and Kono moved to each side of the red carpet. Steve stood by the open door as the General, his wife, and his son got inside. Steve closed the door before moving to the passenger seat. Nick, Chin, and Kono got into the other SUVs, prepared to follow. The ride was silent until Steve's phone rang. Cristina watched as he answered it.

"McGarrett." He remained silent for a moment. "Taylor?" He asked. Cristina tilted her head and leaned over. "Make the next right." Steve said to the driver, hanging up the phone.

"Sir?" The driver asked.

"Take the next right." The driver pulled a gun. Steve tried to wrestle it away but in the struggle, it discharged and hit Pak's wife in the shoulder. Cristina pulled her Beretta out of its holster as the SUV in front of them blew up. Their SUV pulled to a stop, Steve knocked the driver out and pushed him out of the car. Cristina moved towards the door, leaning Danny's lap for a moment.

"Take care of his wife." She said and he nodded. Cristina was able to slip out of the SUV, running around the front to avoid enemy fire. She covered Steve as he ran towards Kono and Chin's car. She followed when he was in position.

"Steve! Give him to me, one else gets hurt." Nick said as he got out of the SUV.

"It's not gonna happen." Steve said to him. He fired at Nick, using up the last of his clip. He dropped it and began to change it.

"Chin, Cris, Take out the engine." Cristina knelt down beside Steve's legs, rapidly firing her entire clip into the front of the SUV. When it was empty, she traded places with Steve, allowing him to take over firing while she changed her clip. "Guys, get in the car, let's go." Steve said, looking at the rest of them. Danny ran over, getting in the passenger seat of the SUV with General Pak in it. Cristina opened the driver's side of Chin's SUV, ducking down and climbing into the passenger seat while Kono got into the back. Chin jumped into the driver's seat, starting the car and taking off behind Steve, who was driving the SUV with Pak in it.

 **XXX**

Cristina slipped out of the car, shaking slightly from the adrenaline leaving her system. "Taylor ever been here?" Danny asked Steve.

"Never." The former SEAL said.

"You alright?" Danny asked, gently touching Cristina's cheek as he walked by. She nodded her head. He opened the back door of the SUV, allowing General Pak and his family to get out. Steve led them inside.

"Kono, there's a first aid kit in the kitchen. Get it and see what you can do." He said, waiting by the door for everyone to come in.

"Okay." Kono said, leading his wife and son into the kitchen.

"Danny, secure the back door." Steve said to the blonde man who came in behind Cristina. The blonde laid a hand on Cristina's back as he slipped by her. Steve made a call to H.P.D before reaching into a drawer, pulling out a snickers bar and handing it to her. "To help with the adrenaline." She nodded her head, opening the candy as she made her way to the other side of the living room to check the windows.

"You saved my life. Your team saved my family. Why?" General Pak asked Steve.

"It's my job." He said to him, plain and simple. "Do me a favor and stand over there." When Steve finished what he had to do in the living room. He turned to Cristina, who was finishing the last of the candy.

"How much ammo do you have left?" He asked. She reached down and patted her pockets.

"Enough." She said and he nodded.

 **XXX**

Hours later, it was dark outside. Steve checked all the windows once again with night vision but didn't see anything. "Help will be here soon." Steve said, moving to another window. The chocolate had really helped Cristina; she felt calm and focused again. It had been a while since she'd been in a gun fight like that. It brought back painful memories.

"Why do you think I brought my family here?" Gerenal Pak asked aloud. Danny sighed as he stepped over to a window as well.

"I don't know. You're a murderer. Who cares?" Cristina watched the man before glancing at Pak.

"My family is here because I'm seeking political asylum." He said, looking at Danny. The blonde looked at Cristina before looking down at the ground.

"That's why you couldn't postpone the trip, why everybody's trying to kill you." Steve said to the man.

"Let me get this straight. You commit all these horrible, horrible crimes, then you come over to the United States and say, _'Hey, I'd like to make a deal now, please.'_ " Danny said, taking a few steps closer.

"I'm going to testify at the U.N. against a military junta and my chairman. I'm going to admit to the world what I've done and pay for the crimes I've committed." Cristina glanced up as Chin and Kono came into the room.

"Well, that's good, man. You should have told us. Okay? Somebody should have told us." Steve said calmly to the man.

"The information was too dangerous." Pak said to him.

"That information is more dangerous if I don't have it!" Steve raised his voice to the man. "My entire team could have been killed. Not to mention your family."

"My testimony will end the war." Pak said, surprising Steve. "The suffering. You save me and my family and you save a country." Steve looked at Cristina. She looked back at him before shifting her weight to get it off of her left leg. Cristina glanced at the window when she heard tires screeching.

"It's H.P.D." Danny said, looking out the window. Danny and Chin moved the couch before Danny opened the door. Steve looked through the window with his night vision scope.

"Those aren't cops. Danny, get away from the door. Get away from the door." Steve said to his partner. Cristina stepped over, closing the door and locking it after gently pushing Danny out of the way.

"Back up. Back up." Danny said to the General and his family. Cristina helped Chin move the couch back front of the door.

"Where's the police? Where is help? Where's help?" Pak asked as Danny guided him deeper into the house.

"Help's not coming." Steve said. Cristina pulled out her Beretta, pulling back the slide and checking the clip before nodding to herself. "How the hell did they know we're here?" Steve asked as Cristina used his scope to look outside.

"My cell phone's dead." Danny said, coming over.

"Same. Internet's down." Kono said from where she was standing. Chin picked up the house phone, putting it to his ear.

"Everything's dead." He said, looking up at them. Cristina pulled her phone out of one of her pockets.

"Nothing here." She was sitting on the back of the couch, with her back leaning against the door, her Beretta hanging loosely in her hand.

"I got full bars." Steve said, after pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Wait a minute. Taylor's killed your signal and cloned mine." He stood up.

"What?" Kono asked.

"He cloned by cell phone. Before, I wasn't talking to 911 operators; I was talking to his team." Steve explained.

"So H.P.D has no idea where we are?" She asked and Steve nodded. She pursed her lips and nodded her head. "Great."

"Told you that I hated that guy." Danny said, pointing to Steve.

"One point for Danny." Cristina said, pointing at the Detective.

"Danny, Cris; take the upstairs. Chin, get the gas can off the bench in the shed. General, bring your family." Steve ordered, coming up with a plan. Cristina caught Danny's eyes, nodding her head up the stairs. He nodded, following after her. She nodded to Chin when he came up with them. When there were shots fire, Cristina flipped the safety off her gun. Danny moved quietly towards the door, leaning against the wall. He glanced back at Cristina and Chin. The other man knelt down, positioning his rifle on his shoulder. Danny glanced back at her as she moved to stand behind the door. When she got the nod from Danny, she pulled the door open, allowing Chin a clear shot. The man yelled as he fell back over the railing to the ground.

"It was definitely the fall that killed him." Danny said as Chin stood up and Cristina moved from behind the door.

"Yeah, definitely." Chin said, panting slightly. Cristina nodded her head in agreement. Danny, Chin, and Cristina made their way down the stairs when they heard more sirens wailing. They ran outback, Kono joining them. Steve was standing on the beach, alone and holding his bicep with Nick Taylor's body floating in the water behind him.

"Chin, Kono, go check on the general and his family." Steve told them. They nodded, everyone holstering their guns. Cristina watched as H.P.D went by her and Danny into the water. Cristina walked over to Steve and grabbed his wrist, turning his arm and the wound towards the little bit of light they had. He groaned when Cristina started to probe about it, grabbing his bicep again.

"You have got to start doing a better job of picking your friends." Danny said to the other man.

"Tell me about it. I picked you, didn't I?" Steve asked with a smile. Danny smiled and shook his head.

"Yeah." He turned away to walk back into the house. Cristina walked beside Steve as they followed him.

 **XXX**

The following morning Cristina, Steve, and Danny were back at Hickam Air Force Base. The general hugged and son before turning his attention to the three members of Five-O. He walked down the red carpet at them, stopping about two feet away.

"I will accept whatever punishment the international court hands down for my crimes." The general said, looking at Steve. "Today is the first day my son is proud of his father. Thank you." He said, looking at Cristina and Danny.

"You okay?" Danny asked Steve, causing Sophia to lean around him to look at him.

"Yeah." He answered. "I should have known."

"No, you shouldn't have. How could you have known? I said the same thing when my Humvee hit the landmine. There was no way to know." Cristina said, turning towards Steve and Danny. The taller man nudged his head towards the blonde.

"He knew."

"No, I suspected. Big difference." Danny said to him. "The view was different from where I was standing. This Taylor guy was your friend. He used that to his advantage. This is really, really good news. I mean, you are a human being." Cristina laughed. "Which is good news to me, because I had no idea. Did you?" He pointed to Cristina behind him as she tried to stop the giggles. She nodded her head. "You did? Well, that sucks." He turned his attention back to Steve. The taller man was smiling at the two. They'd grown closer over the short time that they'd worked together.

"Well, you got good instincts, partner. Longboards on me?" Steve said to Danny.

"Absolutely." The blonde answered. They began walking towards the parking lot. "Can I see your wallet, please?" Danny asked causing Cristina and Steve look at him with a furrowed brow. "Last time you offered to buy me a drink, you conveniently left you wallet and I got stuck for the – You don't have your wallet, do you?"

"Like I said, you got good instincts." Danny turned to Cristina and pointed to Steve. She chuckled.

"That animal." She said, causing both men to smile. "Tell you what? I'll buy you both drinks… if…" She left the question open.

"If what?" They both asked. She smiled.

"Steve lets me borrow the Silverado until I can go car shopping and Danny goes car shopping with me." The men looked at each other before Steve reached into his pocket and grabbed the truck keys out, throwing them over Danny's head for Cristina to catch.

"We'll go the first weekend we're free, okay?" Danny asked, placing a hand on her back. She looked at Danny and then down at the keys in her hands.

"If I had known it was that easy, I would have bought you both beers a long time ago and asked for something else major." She said with a smile, causing both men to laugh.


	5. Heihei

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I wrote it and finally got around to editing it! I hope you guys enjoy the story and please don't forget to fave, follow, and review! It would mean a lot to me!**

 **P.S. The ending is a little sucky for this one but I just couldn't come up with a good one… sorry about that! I hope you guys still like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Cristina Taylor!**

 **XXX**

Cristina had decided to go for a swim that morning and so, instead of changing, she was going to take a page from Kono's book and just keep her swimsuit on under her clothes. She got dressed in her dark gray skinny jeans, maroon three-quarter sleeved Henley, and a pair of black knee-high boots. She slipped her phone into her pocket as she made her way down the stairs, grabbing an apple from the counter and holding it in her mouth as she made her coffee the way she likes it. Her phone rang just as she was putting the lid on her travel cup. She pulled the apple out of her mouth before pulling the phone from her pocket and hitting the accept button.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe." Danny said through the speaker. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"Hey Danny, what's up?" She asked as she made her way through the living room to head outside.

"Have you tried calling Steve?" He asked.

"No, I just walked out the door." She answered, turning around to lock the door behind her.

"Can you try? See if he will answer you. I've called him like three times and he hasn't answered."

"Sure, I'll give it a shot." She said, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she got into the Silverado, putting her apple on the middle console and her coffee in the cup holder.

"Thanks babe. If that doesn't work I'm headed to his house."

"I'll meet you there." She said, putting the keys into the ignition. "Just in case." The man chuckled.

"If you want to." She hummed as the truck rumbled to life.

"I'll see you then." She said, listening to Danny's goodbye before she placed her phone in the other cup holder before grabbing the apple, holding it with her teeth again as she backed out of her driveway and onto the main road.

 **XXX**

Cristina jumped out the Silverado after she'd parked in Steve's driveway. She smiled at Danny as he pulled up in the Camaro. "Hey." She waved.

"Hey, sorry about this weekend. I had Gracie and…" Danny began to explain why the pair hadn't gone car shopping the previous weekend.

"You don't have to explain yourself, brah." She said, turning to close the door of the truck.

"Wow. _Brah?_ Just turning into a regular native aren't you?" She chuckled as they made their way up the walking to the door. Danny opened it, stepping inside first. "Yo." He said to the other man.

"Ahola." She said, coming in.

"Stop showing off." Danny said and she chuckled.

"Hey." Steve said to them as he turned back to what he was doing.

"How is it, my hoales?" Komakona asked.

"Baby Huey, what's good?" Danny said, pointing to the man.

"What's a hoale?" Cristina asked no one in particular.

"Someone not a native of the island, most likely born on the mainland like you and Danny." Steve answered her and she nodded.

"Gotcha." She said, putting her hands in the back pocket of her jeans.

"What's the matter with you, huh?" Danny asked Steve as he came to stand next to him. "We got a situation. I've been calling you like you owe me money." Cristina quirked an eyebrow at the reference.

"What are you talking about? I didn't hear my phone." Steve said, looking confused.

"I called you five, six times." The shorter man said. "I think Cris called you like four."

"I believe you. I didn't hear my phone. I left it right over here." Steve said, pointing to the table. "Where's my phone? You see my phone?" He asked Komakona. The man leaned forward, pulling the phone from his pocket.

"Oh, sorry." Steve sighed.

"You didn't feel that thing vibrating, ever?" Danny asked.

"Oh, that's what it was." Komakona said, looking at the phone. Cristina threw her hands in the air.

"I'm out." She walked to the door. "I'm out. I should be able to clear traffic in the monster I'm driving so I will meet you there." She waved as she closed the door behind her, making her way towards the Silverado. She stepped inside and started it up before backing out, careful to make sure that she didn't hit the Camaro. She put the truck in drive and headed towards their scene.

 **XXX**

"It's an armored car heist. Two dead, one hanging on by a thread." Chin said as Danny and Steve walked to the scene. Cristina handed him the name tag.

"The kid's name is Jordan Townsend and he's only 25." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"This kid looks like he's 12." Danny said back to her.

"What else we got?" Steve asked.

"Eyewitnesses said everything happened really fast. All they can remember is that the shooters were dressed like painters. Some say there were two, some say there were ten. You know how that goes." Chin explained the situation to them.

"Carl, get these kids out of here." Danny said to an officer as he walked by him. Carl nodded and began shooing the kids away.

"Where's the truck?" Danny asked.

"I would assume that they jacked it if it's not here." Cristina said, putting her hands on her hips as she followed Danny.

"Alright smartass." He said, causing her to chuckle. "But that doesn't seem suspect to you? Why not just take the cash?"

"Maybe our cowboys needed a horse." Chin said and Cristina nodded.

"Nice metaphor." She said. He gave her a small smile.

"Thanks."

"Maybe but driving around in a stolen armored car isn't exactly stealth." Steve said. Cristina pulled out her phone, tapping on it briefly.

"There's no GPS signal so it's safe to assume they disabled it. We're still looking for it." She put the phone back. She watched as Danny knelt down and picked up a bullet casing.

"Downtown Waikiki, broad daylight. Obviously no regard for human life. This is a bold crew." Danny said, standing up.

"Alright Chin, contact H.P.D and the TSA. Tell them we're looking for anybody trying to travel or unload with a large amount of cash." Steve said to the other man.

"Yeah." He said, turning to leave when Kono came over.

"Don't cancel your lunch plans. Might wrapping this one up sooner than you think."

"Really?" Steve asked surprised.

"Yeah. I just talked to the company rep. Acko Kula Security tags each bag of cash with a tracking device." Kono explained. Cristina's eyes drifted to Danny as a took out a notepad and opened the cap of a pen with his teeth, holding the cap there as he wrote. That shouldn't attractive.

"Cash with LoJack." Danny said to her. She nodded her head.

"It's all part of some new secret security protocol they started a couple of weeks ago. And you know what? We have a hit." She handed the phone to Steve. "All we gotta do now is follow the money."

 **XXX**

Cristina pulled the Silverado up beside Kono's car as they pulled into Pier 20 in Honolulu Harbor, jumping out and closing the door behind her. "Are you sure this is the place?" Steve asked the younger woman.

"Yeah, the signal from the cash is coming from right here." They followed her up the ramp until they reached the end. "Anybody up for a swim?" She asked, looking at everyone. Chin snapped his fingers.

"I forgot to bring my board shorts." He smiled at her.

"Looks like the rookie is going swimming." Danny said.

"I'll go along with you." Steve said as he turned to walk back to the car.

"Very nice of you." The blonde said.

"Have fun." Cristina called to him.

"What? You jump out of planes and run through Taliban cities but you won't swim. Wow, I guess the Navy is better." Steve said, walking backwards with a smirk on his face. The woman turned to glare at him.

"Ouch!" Chin said.

"That's gonna bruise real nice." Danny said to the other man. Both nodded their heads with smiles on their faces.

"I'm not gonna fall for it. I have no reason to." She said to herself, looking down at the water.

"It's alright. Can't wait for the Army-Navy game." Steve taunted once more.

"Damn it." She turned, walking back down to the truck. "I hate you!" She called and pointed at him as she got to the Silverado. She opened the door, throwing in her gun, badge, and phone. Luckily, she had her swimsuit under her clothes, meaning that she didn't have to worry about that. She looked off her shirt, revealing a black bikini top. Shimmying out of her jeans revealed the matching bottoms. She threw her clothes in the truck seat, reaching into the back to grab her mask out of her bag. She hung them around her neck as she jumped out of the truck, slipping her boots back on without lacing them up and following after Steve and Kono.

"Looking good sistah." Kono said, fist bumping the other woman. Cristina chuckled and rolled her eyes slightly. She took the flashlight Steve held out to her, toeing off her boots.

"I just want you to know, I did water training as well." She said, pointing the flashlight at him. He chuckled as he turned his mask around, putting it on his face. Cristina did the same thing.

"You sure you don't wanna come for a swim?" Steve asked his partner.

"No, you go ahead, uh, with your pants. I'll just be here with a dry towel as I watch this rivalry fester." He said, motioning between Cristina and Steve. She rolled her eyes as she adjusted her mask for her face. "By the way, very nice Cristina. Why do I not see this look more often?" He asked with a cheeky smirk. She turned around, giving him the finger before she back flipped off the dock. She could feel the water disrupt around her as Steve and Kono jumped in as well.

 **XXX**

Cristina threw two bags onto the dock beside the latter, waiting for Steve and Kono to finish climbing out. She shook her head to get the water out off of her face and out of her hair. "We found the money." Steve said.

"And the truck." Kono said as she climbed.

"But I lost my self-respect; we'll have to find that later." Cristina called from the water, listening to Danny and Chin chuckle.

"They drove it right off the pier." Once Kono was out of the way, Cristina made her way up the latter, shaking her head again once she was at the top. When her feet were on the dock, she used both hands to push her hair back out of her face.

"That was pretty smart." Chin said as he knelt down by one of the bags. "Without the device in the cash, we might never have found it." Cristina glanced at Danny, seeing his eye wandering her frame. She snapped her fingers a couple of times, bringing his eyes back to hers. She smirked as she noticed a light flush come across Danny's face.

"Uh, no chance the shooters are in there, right?" He asked, pointing to where the truck was.

"The truck was empty. Doors were open." Steve said.

"I get dumping the truck, but why the money?" Chin asked as he stood up.

"Maybe this heist wasn't about the money." Steve said, looking at his team.

 **XXX**

By the time the truck had been pulled from the water, Cristina was mostly dry. She put her clothes back on and put her hair up in a bun to minimize the water getting onto her shirt. She put a pair of gloves on as Danny spoke.

"It takes a specific type of psycho to jack an armored. You've got guys with vests, guns already drawn." They walked closer to the truck.

"Yeah, maybe they get a rush from it." Steve said.

"Pyschos." Danny repeated.

"Alright. Alright." Steve said as he opened the back doors, letting more water out.

"Oh, what is that, seaweed?" Danny asked when he saw something in the back of the truck.

"Yeah, seaweed." Steve said, pulling it out. Cristina saw that it was an octopus. He moved like he was going to throw it. Kono jumped back and Danny almost tripped over Cristina to get away… they actually tripped over each other but they weren't going to tell anyone.

"Okay, we'll – We'll take the front." Chin said, standing his ground against Steve and the octopus.

"Alright, see what these guys left behind besides the money." Steve said as he threw the octopus back into the water. Cristina and Danny stepped into the back.

"Nothing back here." Cristina said from where she was more towards the front of the van.

"I got a mask with a broken strap." Danny said, handing it to Steve as he climbed out of the van.

"The only one there?" Steve asked as he looked it over.

"Yeah." Danny answered, watching Cristina step down from the van.

"Maybe a struggle. It got caught on something." Steve said, looking at the strap.

"Wait a minute. The paramedics said the guard who was still alive had defensive wounds on his hands. If he tried to rip a mask off –" Danny said, recalling what he'd been told earlier in the investigation.

"Maybe he saw a face." Steve said, nodding his head slightly.

 **XXX**

"Pulled this from the security camera at the loading dock." Kono said as she brought up the video of the jacking. "There are four shooters. This is the best frame we have. Not much to go on."

"They knew we'd pull video. That's why they wore masks and coveralls." Danny said, pointing to the screen.

"Exactly." Kono agreed.

"It doesn't help that there is a group of painters standing nearby dressed exactly like our thieves." Cristina said, bringing up the video of the painters on the monitor.

"Probably not a coincidence." Steve said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Right, so Cris put the video through our facial recognition software and she got a hit from the H.P.D mug shot database." Kono explained as Cristina typed to bring up the picture.

"Gordon Smith." The older woman answered, leaning against the table. "He has a prior for two home robberies and got out of Halawa six months ago. Called up his parole officer who said he missed this morning's meeting." Steve glanced at her.

"Okay, um, I'm not a rocket scientist, but I think I know why he missed his meeting." Danny said, turning to the others, his hands moving as he spoke.

"Alright, well, let's set up a meeting he won't miss." Steve said as he and Danny turned to leave. "You coming Cris?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Hell yeah." She answered, nodding to Kono before following the men out the door.

 **XXX**

Cristina watched as Steve slammed Gordon on the hood of the Camaro, putting cuffs on him. "Hey, hey, hey, man." Gordon said. "What are you doing, man? I didn't do nothing. How did you even find me?"

"Oh, your PO told us. You remember him. He's the guy you were supposed to see this morning, but didn't." Danny said to the man. "Therefore you violated your parole, huh?" Gordon sighed.

"So they sent Five-O after me?" He asked as Steve pulled him up and switched places with him. Steve, Danny, and Cristina all leaned against the Camaro, facing the man.

"No, we don't care about that." Steve answered.

"No, we don't." Danny added. "But we care very much about is why you missed your appointment. So please tell me. Tell me. When did you go from boosting laptops to capping people in the head?" Gordon looked confused.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said back to them.

"That's not true. You were there." Steve said, pointing at the man.

"Where?" He asked and Cristina rolled her eyes, uncrossing her arms and putting her hands on her hips.

"Don't play dumb, Gordon. I hate that. It's a personal pet peeve of mine. Alright?" Danny said, pointing from the other man to himself before continuing. "You were at Fort and King at 8 a.m. this morning, okay? We have you on camera while an armored truck heist was going down."

"Look, man, I went straight in the joint and found the Lord." Gordon said, looking down at his feet before looking back up at them. "I didn't do nothing wrong. All I did was answer an ad." Cristina's brow furrowed.

"What ad?" She asked.

"Gavin's List for paint work. They said meet there wearing a white jumpsuit, hat, and dusk mask. Offering $30 an hour, cash money." He explained. Cristina licked her lips before looking down at her partners. "Figured my PO would be alright if I missed our meeting for a job."

"Who was the meet with?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. No one ever showed. Left me standing there with a bunch of other dudes. Then people started shooting, so I took off." He explained, Cristina nodded as she watched his body language. Her inner profiler kicked in every time she questioned a suspect.

"Alright, go over there." Danny pointed behind them. Gordon looked at him with a look. "Don't give me a look. I need some privacy." The man stepped towards the back of the Camaro. Cristina stepped over so she was standing in front of Steve.

"The ad was a fake." Danny said as Steve and Cristina nodded.

"Yeah." The ex-SEAL said. "Shooters didn't want group of painters. They wanted a bunch of guys at the sight wearing exactly the same thing."

"Bunch of clones to create mass confusion." The blonde man said.

"That's it." Cristina nodded her head in agreement.

"I think I'm going to enjoy catching these guys." Danny said and Cristina chuckled.

"How about you? What do you think about him?" Steve nudged his head to Gordon. She glanced at him before looking at the two.

"He's telling the truth. His entire body language, facial features, even his eyes aren't responding the way it would if he was telling a lie." She answered and Steve nodded.

XXX

"We need to find out when the Gavin's List ad was posted and by whom." Steve said as they entered HQ.

"On it." Cristina saluted, heading to her office to get her computer and to get working. She left her door open so she could hear the rest of the team. Chin was trying to get the SD card out of the little black box found in the van while Kono was running ballistics. Cristina came out of her office, leaning against the doorway as they discussed the triathlon that would, presumably, be when the heist in the bank will happen.

"Okay. If we're right, this crew is probably planning another hit." Steve said. Danny's cellphone rang, so he stepped away to answer it. "This means we have like 18 hours before someone else is going to wind up dead."

"Thank you very much." Danny said as he stepped back over to the table.

"Who's that?" Steve asked the other man.

"Camille Townsend. Jordan is awake and he's talking." Danny answered.

"Let's hope he can ID his shooter." Chin said as Steve nodded.

XXX

"Ha!" Cristina cheered as she managed to park the Silverado. It was a monster compared to anything else she'd ever driven, including the Tahoe she drove in Vegas. Although, it didn't compare to the Hummers in Miami.

"What is with you today, your phone is blowing up." Steve said to his partner as they got out of the Camaro. Cristina made her way over to them, the heels of her boots clicking on the ground.

"It's Rachel, alright?" Danny said, turning to the other man. "The lawyers have decided that since we activate each other, that e-mail would be a better form of communication. Except I hate e-mail. I'm never sitting at a computer. And I can't type on this thing because I have goofy thumbs." Cristina turned to Steve and raised an eyebrow. He held up a finger, telling her to wait a minute.

"Why don't you try turning it sideways?" Steve gave the suggestion as they began walking to the hospital.

"What's that gonna do?" The shorter man asked.

"It makes the things bigger. I'm just trying to help." Steve said to him.

"Here, watch." Cristina said, gently taking the phone from Danny's hands and turning it sideways. "It just makes the keys bigger, a little easier to type on." She offered him a small smile.

"Commander McGarrett, Detective Williams, Sergeant Taylor, I'm Meredith Michaels, Channel 9 News. Do you have any leads on the armored car heist?" The woman asked, holding a microphone out to them.

"No comment." Steve said, pushing past the woman gently and continuing his way to the hospital.

"What's the press even doing here?" Danny asked. As they continued to walk but the woman wasn't giving up.

"We're going live in 10 minutes. I'm hoping to get a comment from Jordan Townsend, the surviving guard." The woman explained, looking at the three of them.

"Okay, turn that off, please." Danny said nicer than Cristina would have. The camera man lowered his camera and she lowered her microphone. "Jordan Townsend is a potential witness for a double homicide. Okay? The people that did this, they do not want him to talk. You understand? You putting his name out there, it only puts his safety at risk." As Danny began getting louder and a little more frustrated, his arms began moving more.

"Jordan's condition was reported from the crime scene three hours ago." The woman said and immediately the three of them began jogging to the building.

 **XXX**

Once inside, they saw all the commotion in the hallway, all centered around Jordan's room. Steve reached out and touched Cristina's arm, gaining her attention. "Did you catch that?" He asked. She followed his line of sight, seeing a doctor walking away from them.

"Yeah, why is he wearing a mask?" Danny asked more to himself.

"Hey, excuse me, doctor." Steve called out to the man. "Sir? Sir, I'm talking to you." Cristina felt Danny lay a hand on his back before they all made their way through the same doors that the other man had went through. They were too late by the time they got to the elevator, the doors had closed. The light above lit up, signaling he was going up. Steve nudged the woman towards the stairs, she nodded and began running in that direction. "Be our eyes." He said to Danny, holding up his phone before taking off after Cristina. "Five!" He yelled to her. She pulled the door open, running down the hall to the elevator. When the elevator doors opened, it was empty except for the blue scrubs he was wearing on the ground. Steve stepped inside, looking around before looking up. A moment later, he hit the wall. He'd gotten away. Cristina sighed, pushing her hair away from her face. The pair waited patiently for Danny to come up after he'd talked to the appropriate people to put the hospital on lockdown.

"So, tell me something." He said, gaining Cristina's attention from where she was typing on her phone. "Who can outrun an elevator going hand-over-hand up a cable?" He asked, pointing up. Before Cristina could answer, she heard Danny behind her.

"Besides you, I have no idea. I got the hospital on lockdown." He stepped into the elevator beside Steve, looking up.

"Well, without a face, we don't know who we're looking for." Steve crossed his arms, watching Danny.

"I got two uniforms at Jordan's door and I got security at every exit. Uh, still nothing." Danny explained, leaning back against the elevator wall.

"How's Jordan?" She asked, putting her phone into her back pocket as she came into the elevator.

"Doctor said he suffered an embolism. Took air through a syringe through his IV. He's unconscious. They're looking after him right now." Danny explained and Cristina nodded.

"What about Camille?" Steve asked.

"Her husband almost died twice today. What do you think?" The blonde man said.

"I think if Jordan was targeted, he must have seen something." Steve said, taking his phone from his pocket as it started ringing. He stepped out of the elevator before answering it. "Kono?" Cristina watched the one sided conversation before Steve nodded his head to the stairs. Cristina and Danny followed him.

 **XXX**

Steve kicked in the door to Chiropractor's office. Steve stepped in first with Cristina and Danny following him. Steve checked the first room, Danny the second, and Cristina the third.

"Clear." Steve said to them.

"Clear here." Danny said about his room.

"Clean and clear." Cristina said, holstering her Beretta in her thigh holster before making her back to Steve.

"I got blood." He said as Cristina stepped into the room. She laid a hand on his back as she stepped around him to look in the mini-fridge.

"Yeah, me too." Danny said, holding a trashcan as he came into the room. Inside was a lot of paper towels covered in blood. Steve nodded and Danny set the trashcan down.

"Building manager said Dr. Kinkirk's been out of town for the last three weeks." Kono said as she came into the building. "Had no idea the office even had people in it. Is that blood?" She asked, leaning over the trashcan a little.

"Yeah. Looks like our guys are dopers." Steve said, reaching over to grab a pair of gloves off the counter.

"What does that mean?" Danny asked.

"You draw a pint of your own blood, you store it in the fridge and then you reinject it days later." He explained as he put the gloves on. Cristina grabbed a pair of her own before putting them on as well.

"Why? What for?" Kono asked him.

"It increases you red cell count and it allows your muscles to work harder for up to 12 hours." Cristina explained as she knelt down by the fridge and opened it.

"Some SEALs in Coronado would do it before their underwater drills." Steve said and Cristina nodded.

"Kind of like an all-natural steroid." Kono said.

"Yeah, for vampires." Danny said with a humorless chuckle.

"Or ultra-endurance athletes." Steve said. He laid all of the blood bags on the chiropractic table. "If these guys are dopers, maybe our shooters are going to be in the triathlon for real." Cristina glanced at him as she went through each bottle of blood in the fridge, cursing herself for not bringing her CSI kit, she would have to remember to pack that away in whatever car they were driving. "It would explain the Tarzan stuff in the elevator. It's a perfect alibi. You pull heists in the middle. You still finish the race, but you claim to have been in the race the whole time. It's perfect."

"Where is he going?" Danny asked Cristina and Kono. "Where are you going?" He called to Steve. He came back in with a vacuum cleaner and a feather duster. "Oh, they got a cleaning crew for that, babe."

"Do you need help?" Kono asked as he pulled a feather out of the duster and grabbed the dust bag from inside the vacuum.

"Oh. Oh, I get it. Steve the science guy is back." Danny said and Cristina laughed. Steve smiled as well.

"I need a print and Cristina didn't bring her kit." She rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air.

"Well, excuse me for switching vehicles so much. When I get my own, I will always have my kit. How's that?" She asked sarcastically. Steve looked over his shoulder and smiled at her as he put the feather inside the dust bag.

"Boss, I have a– I have a print kit in my car." Kono said as Steve dusted the bags.

"There's no time." He said before blowing the excess dust away. Steve took a picture of the print, sending it off to Chin.

"Bring your kit next time." Danny said playfully as Cristina went to leave. She playfully kicked him, laughing when he grabbed her ankle and held it. They missed the look Steve and Kono threw at each other as the man let her ankle go.

 **XXX**

Cristina sat on the hood of the Camaro, watching as Steve and Danny added more weight to Kai's bar. She shook her head. They had a very unusual method but that's what happens with immunity and means. Her phone began ringing so she pulled it out of her pocket, smiling when she realized it was playing Britney Spears' Womanizer. She hit the accept button, bringing the phone to her ear.

"What's up Leggo my Greggo?" The man chuckled.

"How are you doing in Hawaii?" He asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

"It's not bad." She said, watching as Steve and Danny added more weight.

"I'm sure you still miss Vegas though." He said and she chuckled.

"What are you talking about? I just miss your pretty face." She said, listening to him laugh.

"I always knew it." She watched as Danny patted Kai on the chest before they turned and made their way towards her.

"You busy?" He asked.

"Actually I am, I'm in the middle of working a case." Greg hummed.

"Duty calls?" He asked.

"Duty calls." She repeated with a smile.

"Alright, well call me when you get the chance." He said. She slid off the hood of the Camaro, nodding to Steve and Danny as she walked over to the Silverado.

"I will, it'll probably be tonight while I'm sitting on my own private beach." Greg playfully gasped.

"You lucky dog." She chuckled before climbing into the truck.

"I'll call you tonight." She said to him, slowly and carefully backing the truck out of its parking stop and following the silver Camaro.

"Alright, no rush. Remember there is a time zone difference." She chuckled.

"I will. Send everyone my love and hellos." She said and it was Greg's turn to chuckle.

"I will. I'll talk to you tonight." She smiled.

"Bye." She hung up the phone, only for it to ring again. She glanced at it before pressing it to her ear. "Yes?" She asked, looking at the Camaro.

"Just curious who you were talking to, babe. It didn't seem like it was about the case." Danny voice said through the speaker.

"That's because it wasn't. It was one of my old partners from back when I worked at the Las Vegas Crime Lab." She explained. "We haven't talked in a while and he was just getting into work." She explained. She lightly heard Steve say, _I told you so_. She chuckled. "Were you jealous?" Danny laughed.

"Me? Jealous? That's– That's funny babe." He answered.

"I'm not hearing any denying." She said in a sing-song voice.

"So, listen, Kai was talking about a woman named Sabrina who bought some equipment for doping. That's where we're headed." She nodded her head, humming. She was smiling at the fact that Danny did a complete evasion of the question. He was so jealous.

"Alright. I'm right behind you, you can't miss me." She said.

"Alright." Danny said before hanging up. Cristina chuckled as she sat the phone on the middle console before turning on the radio, finding the Top 40's station.

 **XXX**

Cristina followed the Camaro as they pulled up to another house. She slipped out of the truck, Danny didn't look happy at all. Cristina glanced at Steve and he shrugged his shoulders. Steve and Cristina grabbed all of their surveillance equipment before walking up to the house. Danny knocked on the door and then the three waited. A woman came to the door and opened it; she did not look happy to see them… or one of them in particular.

"Danny, what are you doing here?" She asked with a British accent.

"Uh, I need a favor." Danny said to her.

"How did you even get in the gate?" She asked him again.

"Because the code is still Grace's birthday." He answered and Cristina pieced it together. This was Grace's mother. "I told you to change it 15,000 times. You don't listen to me." Cristina glanced at Steve, who glanced back at her and then looked at the ground.

"Perhaps you'd care to explain what it is you're doing on my front porch and who your friends with the luggage are." She said turning her attention to them. Cristina raised an eyebrow at her tone… she would try to play nice though. For Danny's sake.

"Uh, these are my partners, Steve McGarrett and Cristina Taylor. Guys, this is my lovely ex-wife, Rachel." She glared at Danny and Cristina licked her lips. This was going to be fun.

 **XXX**

"Absolutely not." Rachel said after Danny explained the situation to her. Steve nudged Cristina as the pair moved into the house.

"Okay, then I'll talk to Stanley. He's goof but at least he'll listen to reason." Danny said before calling out his name. "Stanley!"

"Stan is on a business trip to Indonesia." Rachel said over Danny's voice. Danny turned to her, biting his bottom lip the way that he does. "I knew you would find a way to engage with me while he was gone."

"Okay, this has nothing to do with you and I. You have potential murder suspects living next door." Danny told her, motioning in the direction of the house. "We just need access so we can surveil."

"Surveil?" She asked him as if not believing him.

"Yeah, yeah, surveil." Steve threw in and Cristina rubbed her forehead. "Then we'll be out of your hair. Trust me, they're bad people. You don't want them walking around your neighborhood. You got Grace and, you know." When Cristina took her hand away from her face, she that Rachel was looking between her and Steve. "Have you noticed anything unusual about their behavior?"

"Not unusual. I think they moved in a few months ago. They're renters." Rachel said to Steve in a calm voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked and Cristina rolled her eyes.

"Nothing. Just that they're only here for a short time." She turned to answer him. "They tend to keep to themselves." She reached over and brushed Danny's right shoulder. "Sorry, you had a rather large chip there." Danny chuckled. Cristina rocked back on her heels.

"I was wrong, now it's getting fun." Steve nudged her with his shoulder.

"Hey, Rachel, I know this isn't ideal but we don't have much time and we need your help." Steve said to her and she shook her head softly.

"Very well. The three of you can do what you like. I'm picking Grace up from school, then checking into a hotel." The woman said, grabbing her keys and walking to the door.

"Uh, you can't do that." Cristina said, holding a hand up to stop the woman.

"I'm not your suspect." She said, glaring a little at Cristina. The CSI raised an eyebrow at her.

"I got that, but we all just need to act normal." Danny was nodding behind the other woman. "If you start breaking routines, they might get suspicious." Cristina held the woman's eyes. She could see how much she wanted to say something to her but she was holding it in.

"Oh Rachel, I got an idea. Why don't you take Gracie over to Laura's for a sleepover? Because she's only been asking for like, you know, three months." Danny said, drawing the woman's attention away from Cristina. She looked at Steve and sighed. The man gave her a smile.

"And I'm supposed to stay here?" She asked him.

"I'm not thrilled about the situation either. This, no." The detective said, shaking his head.

"So, uh, it it's all good, we'll, uh, find a spot upstairs where we can get a good vantage point on the house next door and get to work." Steve said and Danny nodded. As soon as Rachel gave her okay, Cristina grabbed the stuff she'd brought in and booked it up the stairs.

 **XXX**

Cristina was setting up her laptop when Danny spoke. "This is– This is ridiculous, okay? Nobody needs a bed this big. I mean, my whole apartment could fit into this bed frame. It's over compensation. It's absurd."

"Well, I mean, this room, it does have the best view, Danny." Steve said from where he was connection the telescope to its stand.

"You're having fun with this? Enjoying this? I wanna rip my face off. You're enjoying this?" He asked Steve. The man smiled. Cristina looked up from her computer when she heard Rachel come into the room.

"Would anyone like tea?" She asked. Cristina could see that she was trying to be civil. "Do not mock me, Daniel." She said to him without looking. Cristina looked back up; she had looked away for a second, what the hell happened?

"I wasn't mocking you. I wasn't mocking you." He said, being sincere. "I think it's cute. We're doing a stake out and you're offering tea time." Okay, maybe a little mocking.

"It's call civilization." She said back to him. "Would you care for anything Commander McGarrett? Detective Taylor?" She asked Steve and Cristina.

"No, thank you, Rachel." Steve said with a smile.

"No, thank you. I'm fine." Cristina said with a small smile before she turned back to the screen.

"But could you tell me how many people live next door?" Steve asked, pointing to the window.

"Just a couple." She answered.

"So just two?" Danny asked.

"Last I checked, that's what a couple was." Rachel snapped at him. Danny hummed in response.

"That's cute." Danny said, nudging his head towards her as he looked at the two others in the room. "Oh, you know what we should do?" He asked Rachel. "Uh, we're about to take them down. Maybe beforehand, we invite them for a game of tennis. Tea and tennis."

"Now that's really mocking." Cristina mumbled to herself as she walked over to her bag, pulling out a pair of ear buds and setting them on the keys of her computer.

"Bite me." She said with a smile before she left the room. Danny chuckled.

"That's very civilized." He called after her.

"She's cool, man." Steve said, chuckling softly, as he unraveled a pair of headphones. "She's cool. I don't know how you got her."

"How did I get her? Hey, I am a good catch." Danny said, looking at Cristina and winking at her. She chuckled as she continued to connect all the wires to her computer.

"No, really, how did you get her?" Steve asked the man again. Danny said down in chair and sighed.

"Seriously? Uh, she hit me." He said and there was a silence in the room.

"She hit you?" Cristina and Steve asked at almost the same time.

"Yeah." Danny answered.

"Hit you with what? With her fists? Like in the face?" Steve asked as he grabbed something else. "Or how did she hit you?"

"No, no, no, she, uh– " Danny leaned forward in his chair. Cristina ducked down as Steve leaned over to her do something on the other side of her computer.

"I would have moved." She said to him. He looked down at her and smiled before continuing what he was doing.

"She was new to the States and, uh, she wasn't used to driving on the right side of the road and, um, she saw a cop car and she got flustered, so she rear-ended me. So I get out of the car and I offer to give her driving lessons instead of giving her a ticket." By the end of Danny's story, Steve had moved away from Cristina so she was able to sit up at her full height again.

"Pretty smooth, bud." Steve said from where he was looking through the camera.

"Yeah, well, I was just being nice." The detective said. "And she did have a very nice tushy." Cristina busted out laughing at him. He smiled at her. "Apparently, the, uh, London school of Economics does not have driver's ed. So driving lessons turned into dates and then dates turned into a two-bedroom in Weehawken. She woke up married to a cop."

"That's not so bad." Steve said, looking down at Danny with his hands on his hips.

"No, uh, that's what I thought but…" Danny motioned to the room around them and both Steve and Cristina nodded.

"Well, we're up and running." Cristina said, bringing them both back to the task at hand.

 **XXX**

Hours of surveillance later, Cristina was getting restless. With a sigh, she lay down on her stomach on the floor and began doing push-ups. "What are you doing?" Danny asked her from where he was sitting.

"What does it look like?" She said without stopping. "I was never good at surveillance. I feel like I have to be moving all the time." She said, glancing up at him before looking back at the floor. Danny hummed. After twenty, she crossed her ankles and did twenty more. After that twenty, she set both feet back on the ground and put her left hand on her lower back as she began doing one handed. She was pretty sure the entire time Danny was watching her. She glanced to her right as Steve walked back in, carrying a cup of tea.

"Enjoying your tea?" Danny asked as he leaned back in the chair, trying to decide which to look at, Steve or Cristina.

"Yeah, I like tea." Steve answered, looking down at Cristina as well. She switched from her right hand to her left. "You want– You want a cup?" The ex-SEAL asked him.

"No, I'm good. Thanks." Danny said before looking at the screen. "We got movement." Cristina jumped to her feet, walking over to look.

"Alright, you want some fresh air?" Steve asked.

"Uh, yeah." Danny said, standing up.

"Go." Steve said, pushing him out of the room. He nodded to Cristina who nodded back. She followed Danny outside.

 **XXX**

She stood behind Danny as he picked the lock and stepped inside. "Alright, we're in." He said into his earpiece so that Steve could hear him.

"What do you got? Anything?" Steve asked almost immediately after.

"No, I don't have anything yet in the seven seconds I've been here, okay? No guns, no plans for world domination next to the cereal box. Nothing. Can I have a couple seconds, please?" Danny said to the other man. Cristina walked over to the cabinets and began opening them to look inside.

"So, what happened to you two anyway?" Steve asked and for a moment Cristina was confused until she realized that he was talking to Danny about Rachel.

"What happened to who?" He asked.

"You and Rachel." Danny turned around and grabbed a bag of chips, crushing it next to his earpiece.

"You're breaking up. I can't hear you." Cristina chuckled. She watched as he took out of phone and took a picture of something as she walked over; she saw it was a map. "I'm gonna send you something right now. Looks like a map of downtown, highlighted." Cristina looked at the map as Danny sent the picture to Steve. "I think I just successfully send a photograph." He said, causing Cristina to chuckle. She walked deeper into the kitchen.

"I've got registration packets and electronic bracelets with all of them." Cristina said, picking one up and holding it up for Danny to see as he came over.

"You know, long-distance races issue digital timing chips to all participants." Steve said over the radio. "They keep trick of time, they record GPS locations." Cristina set it back down on the packet exactly how she found it. "Send me the numbers so we can try to keep a tab on them when they're in the race."

"When did exercise get so complicated?" Danny asked as Cristina pulled her phone out of her pocket, taking a picture of the packets, numbers, and bracelets. She checked the rest of the house briefly before she came back into the kitchen.

"Nothing." She said and he nodded, looking down at a flash drive. "What's that?" She asked as she came to stand next to him.

"I don't know." He said.

"Cris? Danny? You gotta move, guys. I got the other two suspects coming in through the garage." Cristina glanced through the house before Danny grabbed her wrist.

"Nice lead time, buddy." He said to Steve as he pulled to the pantry. He pushed her in first, stepping in after the closing the door.

"I'm sorry. They're gonna be in there any second. Go, go." He said, falling silent when they got inside. Cristina took in a deep breath as quietly as she could. Danny placed a hand on her cheek before letting it drop to her waist, pushing her deeper into the pantry and away from the door. They noticed the drawer was open but chalked it up to one of the other suspects. Cristina gripped Danny's hand tightly, not sure when it happened.

"Can you grab some more protein bars?" The woman asked as the man began walking to the pantry. Danny let go of Cristina's hand, backing up and pushing the woman further into the corner. They both went for their guns, quietly pulling them from their holsters. There was a crash outside which caused the man to stop. Cristina let her head fall forward onto Danny's neck as her left hand (the one not holding her gun) gripped the side of his shirt tightly, listening as the suspects ran outside.

"Come on." Danny whispered to her as they jogged through the kitchen and out the backdoor.

"Let's go." Cristina whispered, as he closed the door. They climbed the wall separating the houses and took in a breath. Cristina held up her fist. Danny chuckled and fist bumped her before a car pulled into the driveway with metal grinding. Rachel got out of the car, the whole front end dented in. Cristina knelt down to look at the car while Rachel walked over to Danny.

"Names, though I'm fairly certain they're fake." She said, handing him a little notepad. "Maybe you can get prints off the pen." Danny looked at Cristina before looking at the house and then back at Rachel.

"Prints off the pen?" He asked.

"I was married to a cop, remember?" She asked. They smiled slightly at each other. "That was the extent of that pillow talk." Cristina pursed her lips, feeling a little uncomfortable. Her and Danny had gotten really close and to be around with his ex-wife. It didn't feel… Cristina wasn't sure how to explain it.

"Rachel, that's not right. That's not true. Not always." He said to her. She smiled at him again.

"Okay, not always but sometimes." She said and they fell silent. Danny pointed to the car.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It had a little chat with the neighbor's gate." She explained as Cristina stood up. Danny smiled at her.

"Nice work. Thank you." She nodded her head. "I feel like I've seen this trick before."

"Well, it worked once, right?" She said and Cristina nodded her head. She walked by Danny, gaining the man's attention before he turned back to Rachel. She walked into the house and up the stairs. She was immediately greeted by Steve looking her over.

"Are you okay?" She nodded her head, sighing as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Shaken up and feeling stupid." He looked at her.

"What do you mean? It was my fault you guys got stuck in there." He said and she shook her head.

"Not in there just… in general." She touched her cheek; the same one Danny had touched in the pantry. He hummed and nodded his head.

"I guess you are dumb enough not to see it." He said with a smirk and she looked up at him. Before she could say anything he spoke again. "They're leaving. Suspects are leaving for the race. I'll meet you at the car." Steve said to Danny, nodding to Cristina. She stood up, grabbing the keys to the Silverado and following the man outside.

 **XXX**

Cristina sat on the cab of the truck by the bikes, waiting for their suspects to leave the water. She had their GPS on her phone. She stood up and watched as Steve and Chin stopped the suspects. She got a call a moment later from Chin as they ran back to the cars.

"It's not them. They put trackers on other riders." He said and she nodded.

"Got it." She slid off the cab into the bed before jumping over the side and following Chin and Steve towards the SUV they were using.

"Alright, so, uh… looks like they dumped the video from the truck's SD card onto this flash drive." Danny explained as she joined the others. "All the footage is of a place called Bobrow Imports. It's a South African diamond-trading conglomerate."

"That's our target, for sure." Steve said to the rest of them.

"Millions of diamonds are easier to transport than cash." Chin said to them.

"Hey, I know that building. It's like three blocks from here." Kono said, pointing to the computer screen.

"Okay, well, our cars are never gonna be able to cut through this. Let's go." Cristina sighed before running after Steve.

XXX

Cristina followed Steve through the streets, as they got closer to the building, the ex-SEAL pointed to the one next to them. "Kono, I need you on that roof."

"Copy that." She said, running to it. They were just around the corner of the building when Kono's voice came over the radio. "Okay, I'm in position." She was silent for a few seconds. "I don't see– Wait, hang on. They're exiting the building from Mauka side, all four of them. They're dressed as racers with black lumbar packs. They're splitting up. They're taking the four routes on the map. I'm coming down. I'm gonna take Mission."

"Alright, I'm this way." Steve said before running off.

"I'm on four." Chin said to them, holding up four fingers.

"Cris, this way." Danny said to the woman. She nodded and followed him. While Steve went straight, they turned inside. Peeking around the corner, Danny saw one of them coming. He kicked cooler in his path, causing him to flip off the bike. He landed with a grunt.

"Hands behind your back." She said, coming over to cuff the guy. "Hands behind your back." She turned him on to his stomach, pressing her knee into his lower back as she tightened the cuffs.

 **XXX**

They all met up again, having caught all four of them and returning the diamonds back to where they belonged. Steve and Danny went to visit Jordan as he was awake and talking again. Danny also had to make a trip back to Rachel and Grace's house to return the girl's laptop. Cristina, on the other hand, was more than content to head back to her place and do nothing. She thought about taking a nap or maybe going for a swim.


	6. Palekaiko

**A/N: Sorry for the wait guys! Every time I try to sit down and edit everything just goes crazy! I hope you guys are still enjoying the story and please don't forget to fave, follow, and review! It would mean a lot to me!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't anything but Cristina Taylor!**

 **XXX**

"Malaho." Cristina said, handing the cab driver the money she owed before getting out and closing the door behind her. After spending a week in Detroit, testifying against Spencer Noel, she was back in Hawaii and jumping in the middle of a case. She stepped into the Pagoda Hotel, taking her mirror sunglasses off her eyes and putting them on her head. She was still dressed from her day in court (since she went straight from the airport from the courthouse), a pair of black slacks with a deep purple button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and black pumps on her feet. She smiled when she saw Danny talking to the manager. She had already clipped her badge and gun to her belt. "Aloha." She said, carrying her CSI kit in her hand. She had just enough time to stop by her place and throw her bags on her bed before heading over.

"Hey there." Danny said, turning to hug the woman. "Lookin' good, babe." She nodded her head.

"Thanks." They began walking down the hall. "So what do we have?" She asked as she pushed the sunglasses back over her eyes when they went outside.

"A couple on their honeymoon were abducted and the wife was found in the woods, dehydrated and disoriented in nothing but a nightie." He explained. She hummed. "The mother thinks the wife targeted her son for the money."

"Isn't that the way it always goes?" She asked chuckling.

"You ever dealt with in-laws?" He asked. She looked at him, knowing he couldn't see her eyes through the glasses.

"Once. They adored me." She said with a small smile.

"Who wouldn't?" Danny said but Cristina pretended like she didn't hear him. She smiled when she saw Steve at the end of the hall.

"Aloha." She waved slightly.

"Aloha." Steve smiled back. "How was the trial?" She chuckled.

"Easy. Presented all the evidence, myself included and he's bagged and tagged for at least 6 life sentences without parole." She set the kit down, fist-bumping Steve.

"I'm surprised he didn't get the death penalty." He said and she put her hands on her hips.

"I think he would have is Michigan actually used it." Steve shook his head before leaning around her to look at Danny.

"Spoke to the manager. All the calls from Erica's cell, Room 106 right here." The man said as he came over to them. Cristina grabbed her kit and followed them down the hall.

"Did you get a name?" The ex-SEAL asked.

"No, guy paid cash up front." Danny answered.

"Surprise, surprise." Cristina said.

"He's been here a week." The detective continued. When they reached the room, Steve knocked on the door. Danny waited about thirty seconds before he knocked again before going over to the window. "Hello? Hello? Anyone home?" He asked through the window. "Nobody's home. Alright." He said, turning back to his partners. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Danny said as Steve went for the door. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to open it, that's what doors do." Steve said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"First of all, you cannot open doors without consent, is that clear?" Danny said to him.

"And second?" Steve asked, staring at his partner with his hands on his hips.

"Second, it's probably locked." The shorter man said, watching as Steve tried the door, proving it was locked.

"Yes, it's locked." Steve replacing his hand on his hip.

"But I may have heard a distant cry for help, 'please help me,' coming through the door, therefore giving us probable cause to enter the premises." Danny gave the scenario.

"And we would be remiss not to render assistance to that call." Steve added, showing that he was getting what was going on. "Right?"

"I think so. I agree, yes. You must." Danny said as the two agreed and a moment later, Steve was reeling back and kicking the door in.

"Oh, oh! What the hell are you doing!?" Danny yelled at him. Cristina sighed through her nose.

"Probable cause. I thought we were just doing a thing." Steve said, turning to Danny.

"A thi— I meant that we'd get a key from the manager, you Neanderthal animal!" The shorter man said and Cristina had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

"We don't need it." Steve said as he stepped into the room.

"Just go." Danny said, motioning for Cristina to go ahead of him. Cristina moved around the room, nothing seemed out of the ordinary to her.

"Come check this out." Steve called for Cristina and Danny. The woman stepped out of one of the backrooms to where the ex-SEAL was standing.

"I cannot wait to tell these people that you and the State of Hawaii owe them a new door." The blonde man said as he came out of one of the backrooms.

"Erica and Jake Harris, they're in all of these." Cristina looked at the pictures.

"Looks like they picked up a stalker on their honeymoon." Danny said, picking up one of the pictures.

"Yeah." Steve said before hitting both Danny and Cristina on the arms. He pointed to the window where they could see someone's silhouette through the curtain. Steve hid behind the broken door, Danny moved to the corner around the table with the pictures, while Cristina knelt down behind the couch. Danny and Cristina drew their guns, ready to fire at any moment.

"Oh, gun!" Danny called and Cristina cocked her gun. Steve grabbed the man's wrist, turning the gun to his throat before pushing him into the wall.

"Five-O. You move, I'm gonna kill you, okay?" Steve said to him.

"Yeah." The man said. Cristina stood up; keeping her gun trained on the man while Steve took his wallet out and threw it to Danny.

" _Kurt Miller, Benicia, California_." Danny read, holding up his ID before putting it back in the wallet.

"What are you people doing in my room?" He asked them.

"Investigating a case." Steve replied.

"What are you doing?" Cristina asked him, glancing at Steve now that he had taken Miller's gun trained on him as well.

"He's got a PI license." Danny said, holding it between his fingers. Cristina reached out and took it, keeping her gun trained on him but reading the license.

"I'm investigating a case too." Cristina handed the license back to Danny and holstered her gun.

 **XXX**

"I know how this must look." Miller said to Cristina and Danny as Steve rejoined them. "I'm a former cop myself. There's an abduction. There's one person missing. You find me with some incriminating photos."

"Some incriminating photos?" Danny asked, picking up some of the photos. "Huh? Pay attention, Magnum, alright, you're like salkerazzi. There's 200 photos of the same couple."

"I'm not saying anything else without my counsel here. So book me if you have to." Miller said. Steve looked at Danny.

"Do not say it." The other man said and Steve nodded, glancing at Cristina. "Thank you."

"If we book you, it's going to be for murder one." Steve explained, drawing Cristina's attention.

"What are you talking about?" Miller asked.

"Jake Harris is dead. We found his body at the Akahai." Miller sighed.

"His father was an old friend. I've been working at the firm for over 20 years as an in-house investigator." He sighed again. "Jake was like family. Nancy asked me to help."

"Nancy Harris, Jake's mother?" Danny asked.

"After they got engaged, she had me run a background check on Erica. Then the kids took off and she sent me to find them." Miller explained more.

"How long were you tailing them?" Steve asked.

"I got here after the wedding and followed them for about a week, until two days ago."

"What happened?" Cristina asked.

"I got made. Jake spotted me and demanded I back off, so I did. Oh, maybe if I'd been there, I could have stopped it."

"Hey, let me ask you a question, okay?" Danny asked the man. "You ran background on Erica. You saw how she was with Jake. Was she playing him?"

"I'll tell you like I told Nancy. Seen a lot of gold diggers in my time, but Erica was not one of them. The way she loved Jake, there's no faking that."

 **XXX**

"And you guys are going to pick me up again, right?" Cristina asked, leaning into the passenger window of the Camaro. The boys had taken Cristina home to get changed and possibly to eat since she hadn't eaten before the last session of the trial.

"Yes, babe. We're going to talk to Erica and then we'll be back to pick you up." Danny answered and she nodded.

"Alright. Text me and let me know when you're on your way." She said as she stood up, picking up her CSI Kit from the ground.

"Will do." She heard Steve say before she turned and made her way inside. She could hear the Camaro pull out of her driveway and back onto the main road. She glanced at her watch, maybe she could squeeze in a nap too.

 **XXX**

"We got three couples murdered over the course of seven days. One in Bora-Bora. One in Huahine. The other in Moorea." Chin said, pointing to the map on the monitor.

"All of them were newlyweds." Kono added.

"Newlywed killer. Someone should just tell this guy that if people stay married long enough, they kill each other." Danny said and Cristina rolled her eyes.

"It gets weirder. Check this out. Here's Erica Harris." Kono brought the woman's picture up on the monitor. "Now here are his previous three female victims." She brought those up on the monitor as well. "None from the islands. Dark hair. Blue eyes."

"At least we know he has a type." Cristina said, leaning her elbows on the table. "It may help us narrow down his next victim."

"And there definitely will be a next victim. Last time, this guy dropped three bodies." Chin said, turning back around to the team.

"This guy's pretty clever. Commits a crime. Before the bodies are found, he's off to another island." The detective said.

"Which means he may not even be on Oahu anymore." Kono said, looking around the table. Steve's phone rang; he glanced at it before answering.

"I'll put out an alert to all state-wide law-enforcement agencies to send over what we got so far." Chin said, making his way around the table to go to his office.

"That was H.P.D. They found Harris rental car." Steve said, stopping Chin.

 **XXX**

"Nothing in the trunk." Steve said as he came back around to the front of the car.

"The rear-views tilted up. The seat's pushed way back. I'm thinking our guys tall, probably about 6 feet." Danny said as he got out of the car. Cristina was walking the entire car, looking for any kind of evidence they could use.

"Right, well, if Erica was unconscious, he couldn't have taken her very far." Steve said, shining his flashlight around.

"She said she came to in a dark room, didn't know where she was. We should check all nearby storage facilities and outposts." Danny said, coming around the car to look at Cristina shining her light on the tires. "Anything?" She looked up at him and shook her head.

"Nothing. I'm about to start on the inside. You said we were looking for a guy at least 6 feet?" He nodded and his head and hummed. "Alright, I'll get working on the inside." She grabbed her kit and walked around the front of the car. Danny put a hand on her stomach to stop her from walking.

"Hey, be careful, okay?" He said to her quietly. She scoffed.

"I'm always careful." She smiled but he didn't smile back.

"Don't think I didn't notice that you literally fit his profile to a T." He said, causing her smile to fade. She nodded.

"I know. I was hoping no one else noticed." She muttered, looking around. Danny brought a hand to her cheek, causing her to look at him.

"Don't worry about it. I got your back, alright?" She nodded her head. He gave her a smile that she couldn't help but smile back to. "Get to work on the car; I'm heading out with the animal." She chuckled as she stepped away from him.

"You got it. I'll call if I come up with anything." He nodded, watching her as she walked the rest of the way around the car before kneeling down to begin processing the inside. Steve and Danny walked through the woods to check out the surrounding areas. Cristina checked the seats for any trace evidence before she sat down in the seat, easily dusting the steering wheel. When she finished, she began lifting them off. She was pretty sure they would come back as the victim and their killer; this might be their best chance at an ID. By the time she had finished the steering wheel and checking the backseat, Steve and Danny made their way towards her.

"We got a hit." The taller man said to her as they made their way towards the Camaro. Cristina closed up her kit, following behind them.

"Great. What do we do now?" She asked as Steve pushed his seat up, allowing her to crawl in to the back.

"We're headed to the Port of Kauai. He gets around by traveling on cruise ships." Steve told her as he turned the car around and headed towards the main road.

 **XXX**

"Put that on." Steve said, handing Cristina and Danny a lei. Cristina put hers around her neck.

"Absolutely not." Danny said. Steve put his on before turning to his partner.

"Listen, we're going after a dangerous suspect who may now be aware the police are after him. We don't wanna spook him. We wanna blend in. Put the lei on." Steve said as if he was talking to a child.

"Please, don't make me wear flowers." Danny said, holding up the lei.

"Danny, we don't have a lot of time." Cristina said, glancing at her phone to check the time.

"I'm going to do it, okay?" Danny pointed at both her and Steve. "But I'm not going to be happy about it."

"Take the tie off." Steve said to him as the three of them began walking towards the cruise ship. "No one on a cruise ship wears a tie."

"Oh yes they do all the time, so they can hang themselves when they're bored." Danny said, making a hanging motion with his hand.

"Okay, well, put it in your pocket and you can kill yourself later." Steve said, glancing at the other man as they kept walking.

 **XXX**

Getting onto the ship was easy. Cristina glanced around before nudging Danny. He turned to her and she nudged her head to the right. He nodded before she turned and began walking. She was just exploring, trying to see if maybe she could spot the suspect. Cristina pulled her phone out of her pocket, glancing at it before bringing it to her ear.

"His room is empty. He's somewhere else on the ship." Danny's voice said in her ear.

"Alright. I'm still looking." She said, glancing around.

"Wait…" Danny said, pausing as if listening to something before he spoke again. "Atrium deck, going down the stairwell." She glanced at her position.

"Alright. I'll be there first." She said, making her way in that direction. "I'll be waiting for you." She hung up the phone without a reply. She jogged down the stairs before following the hall down, as she rounded the corner, she saw one of the ship's crew members lying on the ground with a bloody nose. She knelt down beside him. "Are you okay?" She asked and he nodded. Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw Steve and Danny running towards her.

"Danny?" Steve asked the other man.

"I got him." The detective said, kneeling down beside him. Cristina stood up and took the extra gun in the waistband of Steve's jeans. She knelt down, glancing around the corner before standing to her full height and following the ex-SEAL down the hall. He told a woman to go back in her room before they reached the end of the hall. A fire extinguisher was lying on the ground and the door directly behind it had a broken knob with blood on the door and frame. Cristina knelt down, Steve standing at full-height behind her. She nudged the door open, her gun still trained in front of her. Once the door was open, Steve stepped around her to check the place. Cristina followed after him, pushing the gun into her own waistband after she turned the safety on.

"He jumped didn't he?" She asked, standing next to Steve to look down at the water.

"Yeah." He scanned the water before turning around. They ran back down the hall until they found Danny, explaining the situation to him. They got off the ship, working with Kauai P.D. "Coast Guard's got divers in the water. Kauai P.D. has been up and down the shoreline. There's no sign of Matinsky." Steve explained their current situation while pacing.

"He's gone. Question is where did he go? Could have gotten on a plane when Erica got away, he didn't. Alright? He got back to the boat." Danny said to them.

"He's not a runner." Cristina said from where she was sitting on the hood of one of the police cars. "Typical serial killer profile. His drive to kill outweighs everything else, even his own self-preservation instincts." Steve nodded his head.

"He didn't kill Erica so now he's in need of a substitute." Steve said to them.

"Listen, I'm looking over this file. Check this out." The detective said, gaining Cristina's attention. She slid off the hood and walked over to them. "Kristen and Elliot Clark. They got married four days ago. Travel itinerary says that they are on Kauai now. Staying in the honeymoon suite at a hotel that I cannot pronounce."

"The Hikina. That's not far from here." Steve looked up at the two of them. Cristina nodded her head.

"Let's get moving then." They nodded, heading over to their borrowed SUV.

 **XXX**

"Alright Chin, you got me, Super SEAL, and Wonder Woman. Go ahead." Danny said into the phone.

"Hey." Steve greeted.

"Yo." Cristina said as she leaned forward to hear the man better since the phone was on speaker.

"So I dug up a little more background info on our man Bradford Matinsky. Turns out he's a systems analyst for an engineering firm in Lansing, Michigan." Chin explained.

"Explains his computer skills." Steve said to his partners.

"Two years ago, he was engaged to be married to a Natalie Hayes. They were planning a big beach wedding in Barbados." Chin continued.

"Let me guess, she had a change of heart. Can't imagine why." Danny said, glancing at Cristina and Steve before looking back out the windshield.

"Took it pretty hard, though. Quit his job, he went on unemployment. And two months later, Natalie Hayes goes missing." Chin added more in.

"Surprise, surprise." Steve said quietly. "Was Matinsky ever charged?" He asked loud enough for Chin to hear.

"No. He was a person of interest, but he was never formally charged with the crime. The case is still unsolved."

"Alright, so this nut-job kills his fiancée and now he's living out some sick, sadistic revenge fantasy." Danny said everything in laymen's terms.

"That's all the makings of a true psychopathic, serial killer behavior." Cristina remarked. "I thought I was done with this shit when I stopped working those cases with the BAU." She muttered more to herself than anyone else.

"The dates of the murders coincide with the anniversary of the wedding almost to the day. Marriage gets called off in December of '08. Polynesian murders go down in December of '09. And a year later, here we are." Chin explained another connection.

"So how are we going to stop this guy? Huh?" Danny asked. Cristina leaned back in her seat.

"Ninety-nine perfect of the time there is only one way to do it." They both looked back at her. She pursed her lips before taking her gun out of its holster and checking her magazine before putting it back. Steve's phone rang again, this time it was Kono. She leaned forward so she could hear.

"I wasn't able to get in touch with the Clarks." She said to them.

"Alright, we're still ten minutes out." Danny said, shifting in his seat. "We need to find them. Get their security, now."

 **XXX**

As they passed by the entrance of the parking garage, Danny leaned forward in his seat.

"Hey, that's him right there." Danny said, pointing to the car.

"That was him?" Steve asked.

"That's him." Danny confirmed as Cristina turned to look out the back window. Steve drifted the SUV around, following after his car. "Whoa, whoa!" Danny yelled when he saw people standing in the road.

"Relax." Steve told him, knowing that they would move.

"Come on." Cristina said, tapping her finger on the middle console.

"I'm going." The ex-SEAL said back to her. He pulled up beside him only to have to swerve behind him when a car came into the other lane. Steve came back over, barely avoiding Matinsky.

"Alright! May 18th, 1996." Danny said loudly.

"What is that?" Steve asked, curious even though he was trying to keep up with Matinsky.

"It's the last time I puked." Danny said to him. "Alright? Don't make me break my streak."

"You will not puke in this car! You will not puke in this car!" Steve yelled to the other man.

"Steve!" Cristina called his name and pointing to the car coming at them. Steve swerved back over behind Matinsky.

"If you're going to be sick in here, you crack that window. This is a loaner." Steve said to the other man.

"Can we focus on something a little more important here?" Cristina said to both men as she leaned up between the seats. Suddenly, Matinsky hit the SUV with his car, sparks flying from the collision. He did it one more time.

"Truck! Truck! Truck!" Danny called to Steve, getting his attention and allowing him to turn onto a soft shoulder of the road.

"Get on it." The woman said from the backseat.

"I'm on it." Steve said, semi-quiet tone that she hadn't heard since this crazy car chase began. When they caught up to him, he was out of the car with Kristen and carrying her over to the edge.

"He's got Kristen. Come on, come on, come on." Danny said as they all got out of the SUV, pulling their guns. Cristina tried to stay hidden within the foliage, holding gun steady as she found a good place she could see everything.

"Drop your weapon." Steve said as he and Danny made their way towards the other man.

"Stay back!" Matinsky called over to them. "I'm warning you. Stay right there! Put the guns down!"

"Put the weapon down and let the girl go, please." Danny said to him, sounding much calmer.

"I do and I go to jail." Matinsky said to them.

"You don't and you die." Danny added.

"Or he can let her go and still die… it works that way too." Cristina muttered to herself as she shifted to the side to make sure she still had a visual on Matinsky. As long as he held Kristen, she wouldn't have a clear shot.

"Listen to me, huh? We know about your fiancée. We know she left you on the alter in front of your friends, in front of your family. We know that must have hurt." Danny began talking, trying to calm the man down.

"You don't know anything." Matinsky said, he was sounding calmer than he had the entire time.

"I do, alright? I know what it's like to have someone you love walk away from you." Danny said back to the man.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked him.

"What?" Danny asked back.

"What are you doing? The guy's clearly a psychopath. You're trying to make friends with him? You're trying to connect?" Steve asked.

"He's standing right in front of us." Danny said, motioning to the suspect.

"I see him standing." Steve said back to him. She raised an eyebrow at the two of them before turning her attention back to Matinsky. "You're a cop. You're not a therapist."

"Hey, hey, hey. I have been trained for this kind of thing, okay?" Danny said back to the other man.

"What, to bore people into submission?" Steve asked, his gun not even trained on Matinsky anymore. Cristina sighed before turning back to Matinsky.

"Don't listen to him, okay? His idea of communication is he drops a winning one-liner and then shoots you in the face. Don't worry about it."

"I'll shoot this guy so he doesn't have to listen to you." Steve dropped his gun and turned slightly to Danny. Then Cristina saw it. Matinsky was letting his guard down, the knife was no longer held to Kristen's throat and he was moving out from behind her, just a little. Cristina still didn't have a clear shot but she knew they would. She barely registered Danny speaking before Steve fired off a shot into Matinsky's shoulder causing him to drop Kristen. He slowly made his way to the edge before he fell over. Cristina stood up and ran over the edge with Steve while Danny comforted Kristen.

 **XXX**

"We don't have to do this today, Danny." Cristina said, sitting in the passenger seat of the Camaro in front of Rachel's house. They were going to spend their Saturday car shopping but it was also his weekend with Grace. He said he didn't mind her going but Cristina didn't want the young girl to be bored out of her mind.

"Yes we do. I promised you and Gracie doesn't mind." The Detective said with a smile as he got out of the car to greet Grace as she came through the gate. With a sigh, Cristina opened the door and stepped out. When Danny finished talking to her, he led her over to the passenger door. Cristina offered her a smile before she knelt down at her level.

"Hi Grace, I'm Cristina. It's very nice to meet you. Your daddy talks about you all the time." Cristina smiled at the girl, almost instantly, she smiled back.

"Danno talks a lot about you too." Cristina smirked, looking up at Danny.

"Does he now?" She could see his face turning pink.

"Come on, everybody in. We have a long day ahead of us." Cristina chuckled as Grace slipped into the backseat.

"You got it?" She asked the girl. She shook her head, trying her hardest to get the seatbelt to click. "Do you mind if I help you?" She asked and Grace shook her head. Cristina moved the seat up some more before leaning into the back, clicking the seatbelt shut.

"Thank you." Grace said to her and Cristina smiled back.

"No problem, doll." She moved the seat back before settling into it. She closed the door and sighed, looking at Danny. The man was watching her with an indescribable look. "You okay?" She asked and Danny blinked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." He said before pulling away from the curb and heading towards dealership.

"So you work with Danno?" Grace asked from the backseat. Cristina looked back at her and nodded.

"Yes I do." Grace smiled.

"He says you're a good shot." Cristina licked her lips, glancing at Danny and smirking before turning back to Grace.

"I think I'm pretty good. What else does Danno say about me?" She asked, seeing the man's face turning red.

"He says we should thank you for your service." She said, a little unsure of what he'd meant by that.

"What Danno means is that I was in the Army. I was fighting all those bad guys overseas." She explained the light details. Grace nodded before suddenly smiling at the woman.

"Danno also says that you're really pretty!" She said excitedly. Cristina bit her lip to try and keep from laughing. Danny stopped at a red light, shaking his head slightly.

"I didn't say that Monkey." He looked back at her in the rearview mirror.

"Yes you did! I remembered!" She said, smiling at him. "You are really pretty." The girl said, turning her attention to Cristina. She smiled at the girl.

"Well, thank you. I think you're really pretty too." Grace smiled and looked down at the floorboards.

"Thank you." She said quietly. Cristina turned around, looking through the windshield before she turned to Danny and smiled. The man smiled back at her before turning his full attention back to the road.

 **XXX**

Cristina looked around the dealership as she got out of the car, she forgot just how much she hated car shopping. She leaned back in to push her seat forward and let Grace out. "I don't even know where to being." Cristina said to Danny as the man came around the car to them.

"Just pick a spot." Danny said with a smile.

"You know, I have a better idea." Cristina said, looking down at Grace before she knelt down to the girl's level. "Why don't you pick out what you like Gracie." The girl looked at her with wide, surprised eyes.

"Really?" She asked and Cristina nodded her head.

"Yeah, why not." The girl smiled widely.

"Okay!" She began running through the rows of cars, Danny and Cristina walking behind her, glancing at the cars around them.

"What do you like driving?" Danny asked.

"The Silverado wasn't too bad but I don't need something that big here. I drove a Hummer in Miami, pain in my…" She glanced to make sure Grace was far enough that she couldn't hear what the older woman was going to say. "ass." Danny chuckled. "I had a Tahoe in Vegas and a Avalanche in New York."

"Tired of big trucks?" Danny asked with a smirk.

"A little. I'm a fan of your Camaro though." She answered.

"Cristi! Danno!" They could hear Grace calling them. They stepped around a car, seeing the girl standing beside a 2014 model charcoal gray Dodge Charger. Cristina stepped around it, looking at the paper in the window. It was within her price range she'd set aside and she like all of the features that were listed on the paper.

"What do you think Cris?" Danny asked the woman, coming to stand beside her.

"I think it." She could see Grace smiling widely at her.

"Hi, how can I help you today?" A man said as he came over to them. He was wearing a shirt with the dealership on it.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I want this one." She said, laying her hand on the roof of the Charger.


	7. Hana 'A' A Makehewa

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! I've been trying to play around with some different ideas and I finally felt like it was finally okay to post! Please let me know if you guys like it! Please don't forget to fave, follow, and review! It would mean a lot to me!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Cristina Taylor!**

 **XXX**

"There." Cristina said as she hit send on the last present she was sending home to New York. Christmas was in just a few days and it would be the first time that Cristina wasn't home in the city. It was strange to her but she also thought it would be a great thing. She glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was time for her to go. She set her phone beside her keys and ran up the stairs, taking them by twos.

She quickly dressed in a black V-neck top and a pair of dark blue jeans. She slipped on a pair of black combat boots and quickly threw her hair into a ponytail and put on some light makeup before she made her way back down the stairs. She clipped her gun and badge to her belt before grabbing her phone and keys, making her way outside. Closing the locking the door behind her, she turned and smiled when she saw the charcoal gray Charger sitting in the driveway. No more using the bus for her.

She got inside, enjoying the new car smell for a moment before she started it up. The car roared to life underneath her before she put it in reverse and made her way towards HQ, singing Christmas music all the way.

 **XXX**

Cristina smiled at Kono as she stepped into HQ. The younger woman smiled back, motioning to the screen. "We got a case." The other woman nodded her head, heading over when her phone rang. It was playing Baba O'Riley by The Who, letting her know it was her father. She held up a finger, making her way to her office and closing the door behind her.

"Hello?" She said, answering the phone and pressing it to her ear.

"Hey Cris." He said from the other end.

"Hey dad. Did you need something?" She asked, glancing outside to make sure the others hadn't arrived yet.

"I'm assuming you're busy." He said, chuckling slightly.

"Yeah, we just got a case." She said, rubbing her forehead as she watched Kono work.

"Crime never stops, even for holidays." He said and she nodded.

"Yeah."

"I was calling just to say Merry Christmas and I love you. I probably won't get to call you back until much later; we just got a case too." He said and she could hear him flipping through some papers. She smiled.

"You can call anytime." She said seriously.

"I know. I'm still getting used to the time zone difference." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"I've been here for months, dad. I don't mind talking to you no matter what time it is." She said, turning her head to the door when someone knocked. Steve was standing there with a raised eyebrow. She held up a finger and he nodded, moving towards Kono, Chin, and Danny.

"Okay." He said and she could hear the relief in his voice.

"Hey, boss man just got in so I have to go." She said, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder as she reached into her laptop bag and pulled out her tablet.

"Alright. I'll talk to you later?" He asked and she hummed.

"Definitely."

"Alright. Merry Christmas. I love you." She smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Mele Kalikimaka. I love you too." She heard him chuckle before saying bye. She hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket before making her way out of her office. "Sorry, my dad." Steve nodded his head, turning back to the screen.

"What is that place?" Danny asked, pointing to the screen. He gave Cristina a smile as she stepped up beside Kono. She smiled back before looking at the screens.

"The Ikalani Resort, 642-acre real-estate wonder. Very high-end. Very secluded. They own that whole stretch of beach." Kono explained.

"Private villas, secluded pools, easy access to cliff where you could dump a body." Steve said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Especially with two bullets in it." Danny added. Cristina glanced down at her tablet when it lit up. She picked it up, glancing at the results from the lab about the bullets and proceeding to run the ballistics.

"I contacted the Ikalani." Kono began. "It turns out that Luther Mangallances owns a private villa there. I had them pull their security footage around our estimated time of death. And it just arrived." She said, pressing some buttons on the table before the video showed up on the monitor.

"There's our boy, Luther Mangallanes." Steve glanced at the team.

"Who's that with him?" Danny asked, scratching the side of his head. Cristina leaned over a little to get a better look at it.

"Stop the tape. Stop the tape. Kono, push in." Steve told her.

"That's Victor Hesse." Danny said, almost quietly. Cristina glanced around as Steve moved closer to the screen. She was out of the loop. She bit her lip, making a mental note that she would have to ask Danny later when Steve wasn't around. Steve brought the phone to his ear, calling the Governor. When he finished the call, he motioned for them to head out.

 **XXX**

"Danny! Danny…" Cristina jogged to catch the man as he made his way out the door; Steve was already down the steps almost out the main buildings doors.

"Yeah, babe?" He asked, slowing his steps so that they could walk side by side.

"Who is Victor Hesse?" She asked quietly, making sure Steve didn't hear them even though she was sure there was no way he could. Danny sighed.

"Victor Hesse killed Steve's father. That's the whole reason this Task Force was created." The detective explained and Cristina looked at him in surprise.

"Oh…" She said and he nodded.

"Yeah…" She nodded her head.

"Go get that son of a bitch. Call me if you need me." She said, patting him on the back before turning around and heading back up the steps, she had a call to make.

"You got it." She heard him say.

 **XXX**

She grabbed her phone when it rang, a standard ringtone. "Hello?" She pressed it to her ear.

"Hey Wonder Woman." A voice said and she smiled.

"Hey Trip. You got my message?" She asked and the man hummed. Trip was one of the guys that Cristina had pulled out of the Humvee when she was in the Army. He hadn't been that injured but he was unconscious. While she got out due to her injuries, Trip was able to continue. He had wanted to continue. He was working in a less dangerous field now, more into the intelligence area which proved very useful for Cristina.

"I did. Still trying to figure out why you're digging into a guy like Hesse." He said and she put the phone on speaker as she set it down on her desk so that she had both hands free.

"My new job." She answered. "Hesse is in Hawaii and he's messed with someone very important to me."

"Okay, well…" She could hear him typing on a computer. "He is a known terrorist and international arms dealer originally from Northern Ireland. He had a younger brother named Anton Hesse." Cristina glanced at the phone as she looked through paperwork.

"Had?" She asked.

"Yeah, had." Trip said, typing some more. "Anton was in a convoy headed for an undisclosed location in Pohang, South Korea when the convoy was attacked. In the resulting gunfire, Anton was shot and killed." Cristina leaned back in her chair and rubbed her forehead.

"Do we know anything about the convoy?" She asked.

"Yeah… it was…" He typed again. "It was a SEAL team, led by a Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett." She nodded her head, biting her lip.

"Right…" She breathed.

"You don't sound surprised." He said.

"Well, that's my boss here in Hawaii so… I had an idea." She said, brushing her hair out of her face, briefly trying to decide if she was going to let it grow out or cut it again.

"Well, we have a couple more things but nothing else that could really help." The man said. She could hear him leaning back in his chair. She nodded her head.

"Alright. Thank you so much Trip." She said to the man as she picked up her phone, turning off speaker phone and putting it to her ear.

"No problem honey. I owe you a lot more than this." He said and she smiled.

"You don't owe me anything but I'm going to remember that when it comes to me needing more help." He chuckled.

"I know you will." He said. She glanced at her tablet, checking the ballistics.

"Alright, I got to go. Thanks for everything." She said.

"No problem." He said. They said their goodbyes before hanging up. She rubbed her face, careful not to smear the little bit of make-up that she had on. She watched Chin walk over to the smart table with the phone pressed to his ear. Apparently they had something. She pulled her computer out of her bag, attaching the chord between the tablet and the computer and waiting for it to load.

 **XXX**

Cristina wasn't sure when she dozed off but she jumped awake when someone put their hand on her shoulder. She looked up, seeing Kono smiling at her. "Rough night?" She asked and Cristina shook her head.

"Not really, just a lot of online shopping for my friends and family back home." She stood up from her chair and stretched. "Do we have anything?" She asked and Kono nodded, motioning for her to head out with Chin and Steve. The older woman stepped out of her office and walked over to them. With a flick of Chin's wrist, he had the picture of a doctor on the monitors.

"Dr. Frank Galey, general practice, office in Kahala. Home in St. Louis Heights. Divorced. Lives alone." Chin explained.

"Criminal record?" Steve asked, glancing back at the other man.

"Not even a speeding ticket." Chin answered.

"Just got off the phone with Galey's office and one of his neighbors." Kono said as she came over to them. Cristina tried to stifle a yawn as she turned to the younger woman. "Um, no one's seen the good doctor for months."

"And no one filed a missing persons?" Chin asked her.

"Apparently not." She answered. "Galey sent an e-mail to friends, family, and colleagues about eight weeks ago that he was taking a much-needed well-earned trip around the world."

"Well, I'm sure he won't mind us looking around his house." Steve said as he made his way to the door. Cristina ran by her office, grabbing her gun and badge out of the drawer, attaching both to her hips before following them out.

 **XXX**

Cristina parked behind Chin, getting out of the car and immediately drawing her gun when she saw Steve do the same. "Danny, Chin, Cris take the back. Kono, you're with me." They all went their separate ways, Cristina following Chin and Danny towards the back of the house. They stepped up to the back porch, Danny tried to open the door but it was locked. Cristina stepped up beside him, easily bumping him out of the way as she turned around, kicking out hard behind her and causing the door to swing open. Danny and Chin moved in first with Cristina bringing up the rear.

"Clear." Danny called first.

"Clear." Then Chin.

"Clear." Cristina said after walking around the room and checking the closet.

"Clear." She heard Steve and Kono say, one after the other.

"Let's check the garage." The ex-SEAL said, leading the way. After busting the garage door open, they all stepped inside. The first thing Cristina noticed was that it looked like a mini-hospital in there. She walked past the men, following Kono as she opened a closet door. She took a step back; Cristina pulled a flashlight out of her vest before turning it on and looking inside.

"Uh, boss?" Kono called for Steve. When the three men came over, Kono let the door swing open. There was a body wrapped in plastic and Cristina was pretty sure it was the doctor.

"Dr. Galey." Danny said, agreeing with Cristina's silent assessment.

"Guess who won't be making house calls anymore." Kono said as she turned to look at everyone. Once H.P.D was called, Steve told Chin and Kono that he, Cristina, and Danny would be heading to Halawa Correctional Facility.

 **XXX**

Cristina slipped her phone back into her pocket with a sigh. All of her Christmas presents should be making their way to everyone. "This is depressing, okay? They got a nicer tree than I do." Danny said in a hushed tone, pointing to the tree beside them.

"Your tree's fine." Steve said in an equally hushed tone.

"No, my tree's not fine. It's small." Danny said back to him. "It's depressing. It's pathetic, okay?"

"It's just like your apartment, it's perfect." Steve said back and Cristina bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"You know what's perfect? Perfect is that I get Grace for six hours on Christmas day, okay? Six hours, just her and I alone in my apartment, okay?" Danny explained to Steve. Cristina leaned forward slightly to look at the detective. "If I was back home, I'd be at my mother's house. Forget about the food that she'd cook, but I would have a big tree. A huge, lovely tree and Grace would be surrounded by people who love her."

"Listen to me; I know something about being raised by a single father." Steve said to the other man. "All Grace is going to remember is that she spent Christmas with Dad, okay? That's what's perfect. So relax with the tree." The door buzzed and Cristina leaned her head back against the wall. This was the first time since moving to Hawaii that she was feeling homesick. She was thousands of miles away from New York with no family, absolutely none, on the island. She swallowed past the lump forming in her throat as Sang Min came in. Danny sat down in the chair while Steve and Cristina stood on each side of him. Sang Min grabbed the phone, bringing it to his ear.

"Back so soon?" He asked.

"Well, what can I say? I missed your smile." Danny said back to the man.

"Let me guess. You need my help." Sang Min said, looking up at them, his eyes lingering on Cristina a moment too long. Steve glanced at her before leaning down to tip the phone towards him.

"We found out Victor Hesse is still alive." Sang Min looked at him.

"You're not a very good shot are you?" He said and Cristina sighed.

"Alright." She reached over Danny, grabbing the phone from the men and putting it to her ear. "Listen to me." Now she had Sang Min's attention. "Hesse has been living here off the grid for the last four months. From what I have gathered, your business is keeping people under the radar. So we thought that, maybe, you could help us find him."

"Well sweetheart, it doesn't matter how beautiful you are. You thought wrong." Sang Min said to her, leaning closer to the glass. Cristina sighed, looking away from the man. Danny reached for the phone but she slapped his hand away, bringing it back to her ear.

"All you have to do is tell us where he is." She looked at him.

"I already helped the detective once." He said, his gaze flickering to Danny.

"It's in your best interest to help us again." Steve said from where he was standing. Sang Min leaned back in his chair, looking over at Steve.

"How do you figure?" The ex-SEAL leaned over, taking the phone from Cristina and bringing up to his own ear.

"Listen to me, I'm going to find Victor Hesse with or without you. If I find him without you, I'm gonna tell him that you're the one who led me to him six months ago. How do you think he's gonna feel? More to the point, how long do you think you're gonna last in here when everybody finds out you're a rat?" Steve said to the other man and Cristina nodded her head. Very effective. He handed the phone back to Danny, who sighed.

"Take your time." He told Sang Min.

"Kishimoto."

"Kishimoto?" Danny asked, looking up at Steve and Cristina.

"Who's Kishimoto?" Steve asked, leaning closer to the phone.

"He's a facilitator for the Japanese underground in Honolulu." Sang Min explained, not looking happy at all to be sharing that information.

"He's a facilitator? What does that mean?" Danny asked.

"He's the man to see if your visa expires and you don't wanna go home. He sets you up with papers, real estate, cars, whatever you need." Sang Min explained. Cristina took her phone out of her pocket and began typing the name into a nationwide database search. She held the phone in her hand as the scan ran. She turned her attention back to Sang Min.

"Okay, if this guy Kishimoto is so connected, how do we know he hasn't already helped Hesse off the island?" Danny asked.

"Because that's not what he does. That's what I do, huh?" Sang Min said, sounding a little too proud of himself.

"Just get us a meeting with Kishimoto." Steve said to the man behind the glass. He chuckled.

"No way you'll get in there unless I'm there." He said and Cristina rolled her eyes. Cristina glanced at Steve.

"Listen to this." Danny said. "What are you doing? Angling for another field trip?"

"Whatever you gotta do, but you need me, huh?" He asked, looking at the three of them. "How badly do you wanna find Victor Hesse?"

"He ain't riding in my car." Cristina said turning and making her way outside.

 **XXX**

Cristina leaned against the Charger, watching the scan run when Steve, Danny, and Sang Min came outside. The convict made a B-line for her, admiring the car and then running his eyes from her feet up to her face. "I think I'm in heaven. A beautiful woman like you driving a beast like this." He put his hand on the car, leaning against it. The woman glanced between his hand and his smirking face a couple of times.

"I really don't want to have to do this with you having a bloody nose so why don't you remove your hand from my car before I do it for you." She said, causing the man to laugh.

"Feisty. I like it." He took a few steps closer. She heard one of the guys shift from where they were standing.

"You're gonna like it a lot less when you mess you that nice suit." She said, tilting her head to the side. He chuckled, turning to look at Steve and Danny over his shoulder.

"I like this hottie better than the other one." She glanced at them, raising an eyebrow. Danny shook his head. Cristina looked back at him, putting her hand on her gun.

"Go get in the Camaro so we can get this over with." He raised his hands in a defensive position as he walked backwards until he was at the front of the car before turning and walking over to the other two men. Danny gave her a thumbs up.

"Good job, babe." She smirked and winked as she opened the door, getting inside.

 **XXX**

Danny sighed as they walked into the building. "I've driven by this place 10,000 times and I never knew it was a private club."

"Why would you? You can't afford it." Sang Min said to him. An older man was sitting at one of the tables, smoking a cigar. When he saw Sing Min, he put the cigar in an ashtray and stood up to greet the younger man.

"Sang Min, I didn't hear about your early release." He said, shaking his hand.

"Because I haven't been released. These gentlemen and beautiful lady wanted to meet you." Sang Min said, looking over the three of them.

"Steve McGarrett, Danny Williams, Cristina Taylor, Five-O." Cristina nodded her head at the same time as Danny. Kishimoto looked less than pleased that they were police.

"Now, why would you bring law enforcement to my club?" He asked the younger man.

"They're not here for you, Kishimoto." Sang Min said back to him. "They're here about Victor Hesse. Okay? They're cool." There was a pause.

"I'll have my men escort you out." Kishimoto said as he moved to sit down.

"You can have your men escort me out in a minute. I just wanna show you a couple of photos." Steve said, stepping closer to the man. He held up the two pictures. "These are the only two people besides you who have helped Victor Hesse since he's been on the run." The man took one of the photos.

"He did this?" Steve shrugged his shoulders.

"What can I say? Victor Hesse doesn't like loose ends." He took the photo back.

"Look, if you could, um, be the subject of the next photo that we go to show the next people we go to question, or you could tell us right now where Victor Hesse is. Make it easier for everybody." Danny said to the man.

"I set him up in a condo in Ala Moana on Crown Street. He's been living there for a few weeks." Kishimoto said, finally giving them an answer.

"Okay, where does he hang out?" Steve asked.

"There's a private hostess bar in Nu'uanu." Steve glanced at Danny and Cristina, both nodded.

 **XXX**

Cristina waited patiently as Danny and Steve got Sang Min situated in the Camaro. Cristina made her way to the door as they finished up. Danny laid a hand on her back, letting her go in first behind Steve. "So let me get this hostess-bar thing straight. You're not allowed to touch any of these girls? Well, these guys are buying them drinks all night for what?" Danny asked as they walked through the club.

"To talk to them." Steve answered.

"Why would anybody want to talk to them?" Danny asked again. Cristina turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious. I'm just asking."

"Okay, well ask questions later. Right now, let's focus." She said, patting the man on the shoulder as they stepped through a beaded doorway. A man stepped through the other doorway, freezing when he saw them. It was Victor Hesse.

"Danny! Cris!" Steve yelled as Victor ran. Cristina was one step behind Steve the entire way, slipping around him in the doorway when a car pulled up. She unloaded half of her magazine when she realized that it was Danny's Camaro. Cristina pulled her keys out of her pocket before running over to the Charger, getting inside and starting it up. The car roars to life as she shifted it into drive and spun her tires out of the parking lot, drifting onto the street, waiting for Steve and Danny to get in. Danny slipped into the back while Steve got into the passenger seat. "Go!" Steve yelled as Cristina punched the accelerator down, following Danny's directions.

"Alright, at least he's still got the anklet on." The detective said from the backseat. "Make your next right. They're way ahead of us. Come on."

"Seat belt." She said, glancing at both of them. She grabbed hers and clicked it quickly.

"Good idea. Hey, hey hey." Danny said, quickly reaching for his seatbelt as Cristina drifted onto the main street. "Alright, can you do that after I put the seat belt on? Please and thank you." He said, clicking the seat belt locked. She could hear Steve do the same. "Whoa! Hey!" He yelled as Cristina had to slam on her breaks, locking them up. She shifted into the other lane quickly, her tires squealing a bit in protest as she tried to get back up to speed.

"That's why you wear your seatbelts." She said, glancing around the road before looking in all of her mirrors.

"Okay, they're stopping at Ala Moana Harbor." Danny said, looking at the tracker.

"Chin's two blocks from there. Call him." Steve said, looking over his shoulder at the other man. Cristina swerved in and out of traffic as Danny watched the tracker. Steve gripped the OS-bar above his head as he watched the road. Danny's phone rang again.

"He is at the end of the dock, on a boat, Slip 71. Okay, he stopped moving. He's inside." Danny answered the unheard question. Cristina shifted as she weaved out of more traffic.

 **XXX**

"Chin. Chin." Steve called to the man as he, Danny, and Cristina ran over to him. He was kneeling in the middle of the street with a motion-activated bomb around his neck.

"Guys, what are you doing?" He asked, looking up at them the best he could.

"Don't move." Steve told him. "Don't move."

"You need to be in suits." The man said, looking up at them.

"You're not wearing one, neither are we." Steve said as he and Cristina knelt down to his height.

"Hey, just tell us what you saw." Danny said, bending down to look at Chin's face.

"I didn't see anything." The man said. "I got hit from behind, I blacked out. I woke up here with that hood over my head." A cellphone rang in Chin's shirt pocket. Steve reached for it carefully, pulling it out and taking a couple steps back from him. He hit the accept button and brought it to his ear.

"Victor." He said before pausing. "Yeah, and I killed your brother. The score's been settled." Another pause as he listened to the other man. "So why don't you tell me what you want?" She glanced up at Steve's face. He didn't want to agree but he didn't have a choice. "I'm gonna find you, Victor. I'm gonna find you. This time, you're not gonna walk away, you understand." Steve pulled the phone away from his ear as he hung up. Cristina stayed with Chin after the ex-SEAL told them what Victor had wanted. Danny made his way over to the Camaro and was making a call to the Governor while Steve was dealing with the evacuations and perimeters.

"I'll be back." She said to Chin before she stood up and made her way over to Steve, he was finishing up his conversation with Duke. Danny stepped up to them a moment later. Steve and Cristina turned to look at the other man.

"I just spoke with the Governor." He said and the look said everything.

"Wait, she's not gonna give us the money?" Steve asked. Danny shook his head.

" _We don't negotiate with terrorist, Daniel._ " He repeated what she'd told him. "Her words." Cristina bit her lip and pushed her hair out of her face. "What are we going to tell our boy?"

"I guess we're going to tell him the truth." Steve said after rubbing his face in frustration. Cristina bit the inside of her cheek as Steve walked over to the man. Danny put a hand on her lower back, prompting to her move.

"How is it, guys? What's new?" Chin asked, gently turning his head to look at them. "What's the word, boss?'

"The ransom money fell through." She saw more than heard Chin sigh.

"Well, I'm not surprised. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed." The man said.

"You just need to sit tight, okay? We're gonna get that thing off, I promise." Danny said to him.

"I don't have much choice, brah." He said with a small smile. Cristina tried to smile before movement caught her eye. Kono came running over to them. Cristina stepped towards and wrapped her arms around her, catching the brunt of the force before turning her towards Chin.

"Don't touch him." She said, letting the girl go so she could kneel beside her cousin.

"Oh my god. Are you okay? What are we doing to get this off of him?" She asked, looking up at the other three.

"Hesse is demanding $10 million and the governor will not play ball." Danny answered.

"So we need $10 million?" She asked.

"Yes." Steve answered. Cristina registered a look shared between the cousins, apparently Steve did too.

"I'm sorry, what's the look here?" He asked, leaning down. "You know where to get $10 million."

"No but Chin Ho does." Kono answered, not taking her eyes off of her cousin.

"Kono, don't." The man said to her.

"If it's the only way to save your life." She said to him.

"Oh, what did you do?" Danny asked. "You won, uh—? You won the lottery and you didn't tell us about it?"

"She's talking about the asset forfeiture locker." Chin answered.

"At H.P.D?" Danny asked. "They got jewels and stolen cars. They don't got that kind of money there."

"It's not that one." Chin looked up at him. "Another one that most cops don't know about. It's where they keep confiscated drugs and money while suspects await trail, but this one's only for the big scores." Cristina knelt down on the other side of Chin so that she could see him.

"And they have $10 million in there?" She asked quietly. He looked at her.

"They got $28,567,000 in cash to be exact." Cristina looked up at Danny and Steve before looking back at the man. "It's all from one big drug haul eight years ago. When the investigation went cold, all the money just sat there. Three years ago, 200,000 of it went missing and everyone started looking at me."

"Why?" Danny asked. "Why'd they look at you?"

"Because it was my case. This is the one I couldn't drop." Chin explained.

"Someone framed him to end the investigation. First they accused him of taking payoffs then stealing from the locker." Kono explained.

"Okay, where is it?" Steve asked.

"Think about what you're asking right now." He said, looking up at the ex-SEAL.

"Alright, thought about it. Don't really care." Cristina said, drawing attention to her. "Where is it?"

"Chin, please, this is your life." Kono said, on the verge of begging.

"It's underneath H.P.D headquarters in District 1. But no matter what you guys are thinking about doing, it's not worth it." Chin told them and then tried to talk them out of it. Steve looked at Cristina, who nodded. "Hesse is going to kill me whether he gets that $10 million or not. You know that's true." He spoke to Steve.

"Okay, yes. Yes. I'm sure that's his plan. But with this money, I can get face-to-face with him, and this is the only shot we got." Steve explained to him before kneeling down. "Chin, you have to tell me how to get into that locker."

"Everything you need to know is on a set of blueprints in my house." He said, understanding Steve's motives.

"Where in your house?" Danny asked.

"My bedroom under the nightstand. Move it, there's a loose floorboard." Chin explained and Steve nodded.

"Alright. Don't move him." He said to Kono and Danny. He put a hand on Cristina's shoulder as he stood. The woman nodded before standing up, following him to the cars. When they got behind the barricade, Cristina turned her attention to Steve.

"Hey." She got his attention, throwing the keys to the Charger at him. He caught them and looked down at them before nodding.

"Hey, you, uh, wanna talk about what just happened or no?" Danny asked as he came up behind the two of them. Cristina looked over her shoulder, she hadn't even heard him.

"That's for later. We got work to do." Steve said, continuing to make his way to the Charger.

"For later? Ho, ho, ho." Danny said causing them both to turn to him. "Alright, for me. I just wanna know. Are we really going to break into a police safe and steal drug money?"

"I know what you're gonna say, alright? We're cops. We don't steal. There's got to be another way. There's not another way to do this, Danny. Look around, okay? By the way, I'm not a cop. I'm a SEAL." Steve said to the other man, getting angrier as he spoke. Cristina reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, would you relax? Don't get me wrong. Okay, Superman, bring it down. Just a notch, alright? Our boys in trouble. We do what we gotta do. I understand that, I'm just trying to measure the level of insanity we're dealing with." Danny explained to the other man.

"Well, it's high." Cristina answered, dropping her hand from the SEAL's shoulder.

"High." Steve repeated.

Very high." She added.

"Clearly, clearly." Danny motioned towards her.

"Alright?" Steve asked.

"Yes." Danny answered. Steve glanced down at his pocket as the phone he'd taken from Chin began ringing. He sighed as he reached down and grabbed it. He answered it, putting it on speaker phone.

"Yeah?" He asked Hesse.

"Have you chosen a spot to watch the fireworks from?" The other man asked from the phone. Danny and Cristina turned and looked at each other before the man turned to look at Chin.

"Listen, I can get the money, alright?" Steve said in a lower voice.

"I'm sure your friend will be happy to hear about that." Hesse said.

"I need four hours." Steve said to him.

"You've got three. I'll be in touch with further instructions then." Hesse said before he hung up. Danny sighed.

"Let's go." Steve said to the woman, clutching the keys in his hand tighter. She nodded her head, putting a hand on Danny's arm as she slipped past him to make her way to the car.

 **XXX**

"We got the blueprints." Steve said as he and Cristina walked into their offices. Kono and Danny followed them to the smart table. Steve unzipped the bag they were in before pulling them out and opening them up. He sighed as he glanced over them.

"Look, I know what you're thinking." Kono said, gaining Steve's attention for a moment before he turned back to the blueprints. "But my cousin never took a dime of that money."

"These blueprints are a little suspect, no?" Danny asked, pointing to the paper that Steve was unfolding.

"After Chin was framed, he lost his badge. He said he kept them to protect someone. I don't know who but I believe him. And now that you know, so should you." The younger woman explained to them.

"Alright, listen." Danny said, breaking the silence that settled into the room. "How are we gonna steal this money?"

"Borrow." Steve said, looking at him.

"Borrow." Danny said back, pointing to Steve.

"I'm gonna borrow 10 million. I'm gonna capture Hesse during the drop-off, and then I'm gonna return the money before anyone knows it's missing." Steve explained.

"Okay, good. Uh, just a question. Does this super-secret room have a super-secret entrance?" The detective asked.

"Yes. It's accessible two ways. The first through H.P.D…" Steve began to explain before he was cut off by Danny.

"H.P.D. Beautiful. A room full of armed people who definitely do now wanna help us out, right?"

"The second one is through right here." Steve said, running his finger down the map.

"A tunnel." Kono said, leaning over the map to see what he was pointing too. Cristina stepped around to Kono's side so she could see the map right-side up.

"A tunnel? Why is there a tunnel?" Danny asked.

"Built by the Army in World War II to get supplies across the island." Steve explained to the man.

"Chin Ho said that after he was accused, the tunnel may have been sealed." Kono said, looking up at Steve. He folded the blueprints back up and put them back in the bag.

"Well, we'll unseal it." Steve said he walked away. He motioned for Kono to follow him. Cristina guessed that meant that she and Danny were staying in the office for the moment.

 **XXX**

Cristina adjusted the scope on her M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle when the cellphone rang. Steve answered while Kono and Cristina listened in. "Yeah?"

"Have you got my money?" Hesse asked.

"I do. Why don't you come down to the Iolani Palace? We'll do the exchange there." Steve said to him.

"How about I turn your man into puzzle pieces?" Hesse asked.

"Wait, wait."

"There's a field across Farrington in Waipahu."

"There's a lot of fields in Waipahu."

"Ah, you'll see me. I'll make sure of it. Oh, and come alone, or your man goes boom." The phone call ended.

"Did you get that?" Steve called out the open back window of the Silverado to where Kono and Cristina were sitting.

"Oh yeah." Kono said, touching the earpiece. Kono sat her rifle down beside her before she laid flat, Cristina doing the same.

 **XXX**

"Kono, Cris, we're here." Steve said, causing Cristina to open her eyes. She'd closed them to relax and get into the sniper-zone, as she called it. Both women grabbed their guns and jumped out of the bed of the Silverado. Steve kept going while both women righted themselves.

"You ready?" Cristina whispered to Kono and the younger woman nodded. "I'm going around." She motioned and Kono nodded again. Cristina moved quickly, remembering her time in the Army. She stayed low and quiet, her gun pressed tightly to her shoulder. She glanced behind her as Kono got set up. The woman looked forward, finding a good spot interwoven with a dead trees branches and roots. She was able to find a flat, solid piece of ground where she was able to set the rifle's bipod. She lay down, settling on her elbows before digging the toes of her boots into the ground. She pulled the slide back, loading the first round as she looked through the scope to get her crosshairs on Hesse. Taking her eyes away from her scope, she saw the Silverado come into view down the road. With a deep breath, she looked through the scope again. Cristina watched the exchange, keep her breathing as slow and shallow as she dared. Steve threw the backpack over to the other man, who knelt down and opened it up. She watched Hesse nod when he saw the money before he threw it into the fire. Cristina gasped in shock before trying to settle her pulse again. Cristina aimed when Hesse lifted his hand.

"Now." She heard Steve whisper in her ear. She pulled the trigger, feeling the gun's recoil against her shoulder before briefly hearing Kono's discharge as well. Both rounds hit their mark, Hesse dropped the detonator and in an instant, Steve was on him. Cristina placed an finger to her earpiece.

"Go Kono." Cristina said as she sat up on her knees, putting the bipod back into place before slowly standing up. She kept looking through her rifle at the fight happening between the two men.

"Right." The younger woman said, picking up her rifle and making her way down towards Steve and Hesse. She watched the struggle before Steve managed to subdue Hesse and use his finger on the scanner to deactivate the bomb. Cristina sighed as she began walking towards them, careful not to fall on any loose rocks, her rifle still set securely against her shoulder. She managed to get to the bottom a few steps behind Kono, both women stopping by the fire. They could still see some of the money in the fire, burning. Cristina looked at both of them before brushing a piece of hair behind her ear.

 **XXX**

"Okay, I'm only going to ask once more. Stop moving it or I will stab you all." Cristina said, holding up a pair of scissors threateningly at Danny, Steve, and Chin as they tried to make the oversized Santa suit Danny had fit. Chin chuckled.

"Sorry, sorry." She gave him a small smile before she finished cutting some of the extra fabric away.

"Son of a—" Danny said, putting his finger in his mouth to stop any bleeding.

"You learn to sew in the SEALs?" Chin asked Steve as he looked at what the other man was doing. Cristina glanced up as she thread her own needle and began sewing the area she'd just been cutting.

"I learned to sew in the Boy Scouts." Steve answered, looking at the other man.

"Why am I not surprised?" Danny asked, laughing. Cristina licked her lips, trying not to laugh.

"Why is it a big deal? I can sew." Steve said to all of them.

"Guys, she's here." Kono said, looking out the window.

"Okay, let's go." Steve said. Cristina used her teeth to break the string before putting the needle away in a safe place. She followed Danny into the room where he would get dressed. She could hear everyone moving around in the other room, making sure everything was perfect for Grace.

"Shit! Hold on!" She ran back out, grabbing the sewing stuff before running back into the room. She set it on the shelf as she helped Danny get into the jacket.

"Thanks, babe." He said as he put the hat on his head.

"No problem." She said, buttoning the jacket up.

"Hey, listen…" He began. She glanced up at him before focusing on the jacket.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I know we've only known each other for a couple of months…" He began as she finished the buttons and reached up to straighten his hat. He grabbed her hands and held them in his own when she was done. She finally looked at his face. She could see he was nervous. "I just wanted to say that…"

"Mele Kalikimaka!" Chin, Steve, Komakona, and Kono said from the other room, letting them know that Grace was inside.

"We're not finished with this." Danny said quietly, releasing his grip on Cristina's hands. She bit her lip and smiled before nodding. "Merry Christmas, please." Danny said, loud enough that he was sure they heard him in the other room.

"Who's that?" Steve asked.

"Did you hear that?" Kono asked.

"Ho, ho, ho!" Danny said as he walked out of the room.

"Santa!" Grace said when she saw him.

"Oh, yes, it is Santa." Danny said, kneeling down so Grace could hug him. Cristina sneaked past them, walking over to Chin. The man wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She smiled, wrapping her arm around his waist and poking Steve in the side. He jumped slightly and turned to her, sticking his tongue out. She chuckled before turning her attention to Danny and Grace. "Merry Christmas." He said as she pulled away.

"Looks like you lost some weight." Grace said, looking at him.

"Just a little bit." Danny said, hugging her again as everyone laughed.

 **XXX**

"I'm gonna head out." Cristina said as she stood up from where she was sitting.

"Do you have to?" Grace asked, looking up at the woman. Cristina smiled and laid a hand on her head.

"I do, unfortunately. I have a lot of late night Skype sessions with my family back on the mainland." She answered and Grace nodded, going back to one of the presents she'd gotten from Kono.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow… or whenever." She said with a laugh. Everyone chuckled, saying goodbye to her.

"Hey, before you go." Danny said, standing up. By this time, he'd stripped off the Santa suit.

"Yeah, what's up?" She asked.

"Come here." He said, motioning for her to follow him. She glanced at everyone, noting the smirking faces on all of them (Grace was paying them absolutely no mind at all) before she followed the detective.

"What's up?" She asked when she stepped into the room.

"I really didn't get a chance to say what I wanted to say earlier…" He began, running a hand over his head.

"Yeah… what was that about?" She crossed her arms, bringing her right hand to her mouth to bite her thumbnail. Danny reached out and took her hand away from her mouth and held it.

"I know we haven't known each other long but… over the time you've been here…" He paused, looking for the right words. "I really like you." He said, just shooting for point of their conversation. She pursed her lips a little before smiling slightly.

"I really like you too." She spoke quietly. Danny smiled back at her.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Yeah." She answered. Her smile dimmed slightly. "What about—"

"Rachel?" Danny asked, already knowing where the conversation was going. She nodded her head lightly.

"Rachel and I are done. It doesn't matter what we had before, it wouldn't be the same even if we tried again." Danny explained to her. He looked up at her and she guessed that the nerves could be seen on her face because a moment later he was asking her what was wrong.

"I just…" She paused to think about what she wanted to say. "I haven't dated in a long time… especially someone I work with. The last guy I was with was a CSI in Miami with me and he was shot in the line of duty." She brought her free hand up to play with the ring that was on the same chain as her Army dog tags. She glanced down at it before letting it go. "It was years ago but I think that…"

"We should take it slow?" Danny asked, hopefully finishing her sentence. She gave him a small smile.

"Yeah… if that's okay with you?"

"I'm perfectly okay with that." Danny said, taking a small step closer. She smiled even wider. Now that Danny was standing closer, her suspicions of their heights was confirmed. They were the same height when she wasn't wearing boots or heels. She flipped Danny's hand over, looking at his watch.

"I really hate to figure this all out and then run but… I do actually have to make some calls tonight." Danny chuckled.

"I get it." He said, leaning closer to her to press a kiss to her cheek, close to the corner of her mouth. She smiled at him once more before the two of them made their way back out into the living room. Everyone's eyes turned to them and she could see them all smirking.

"Grow up and wipe those smirks off your faces." She said, laughing slightly. She placed a hand on Grace's head as she walked by, the girl smiling at her as she looked up. "I'll see you guys later. Call if you need anything." She said, turning once she was at the door to wave at everyone once more, including Danny who had rejoined them. She stepped outside, closing the door behind her and leaning against it briefly. Well… Hawaii was certainly turning around for her. She smiled wider as she pulled the keys from her pocket and made her way over to her car.


	8. Ke Kinohi

**A/N: I'm SO SO sorry about how late this is guys! Things just spiraled out of control with life and my motivation took a dive. I'm hoping to start posting once a week again for all of my stories. Again, I'm sorry. I want to thank everyone who reads and posts comments, you guys really help motivate me to try and continue writing even when I don't want to because it usually gets me back into the writing mood, so thank you all!**

 **I hope you all like this chapter and please don't forget to fave, follow, and review! It would mean a lot!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Cristina Taylor!**

 **XXX**

Cristina walked slowly through Steve's house. She could easily see where the struggle took place. "Well, I'll get H.P.D. down here, help Cristina process the place." Kono said as she walked into the dining room where Steve met her.

"No, don't bother. They're not going to find anything. The guys wore gloves." The ex-SEAL said as he sat down. Cristina nodded as she came over.

"Yeah, that'll be totally useless." She crossed her arms over her chest. She glanced to her left when Danny came into the room from the kitchen. He was licking his thumb like he'd been eating something.

"What are you eating?" She asked. He glanced at her before shaking his head slightly.

"Nothing. Ice, for your head." The detective said, holding out the bag of ice for Steve. He was holding his head in his hand when he looked up at the other man.

"I'm fine." He refused.

"Don't be a tough guy. I've been popped with a stun gun; it's no fun, ice helps." Danny said to the man. Steve rolled his eyes and held his hand out, snatching the bag from Danny's hand when he offered it again.

"You've been stun-gunned?" Cristina asked with a raised eyebrow. Danny turned to her.

"Yes I've been stunned, Hoboken, Halloween '02. It's a long story, I don't wanna tell you now." He said to her and she smirked. She didn't see Kono smiling at the two of them from behind her back.

"I'll make sure to ask you later." She reached forward, taking Steve's hand with the ice and pressing it right on the mark on his neck. He leaned into the ice once it was in the right spot.

"How many guys were there?" Danny asked, turning his attention back to Steve.

"Three." He said, looking up at them.

"Three, okay, because I was wondering how one little burglar comes in and takes advantage of a Navy SEAL." Danny said as he moved around the room a little. Cristina watched Steve reach down and pick up a picture of his father, pulling a piece of broken glass from the frame.

"They weren't burglars, okay? They were professionals. They were organized, precise." He explained.

"Stun guns, gloves. Knew what they were after, it's no doubt you were targeted." Kono said from where she was standing on the other side of Cristina.

"Yeah, targeted I understand." Danny agreed. "How'd they get you? Did you not put an alarm system in here after the General Pak thing? I told you to do that. I don't wanna be a nag but I did say you should do that." Danny said and Cristina bit her thumb to keep from smiling. This was a serious moment and Danny was sounding like a worried, nagging mother.

"I put it in, okay?" Steve said, looking up at Danny. "They made a clean entry. They didn't trip the sensors. I don't understand."

"Nothing was tripped because they hacked your system using the alarm company's servers." Chin said as he came into the house from the backdoor. "They disarmed it as if you did it yourself."

"Did you find out where they came in?" The ex-SEAL turned his attention to Chin.

"Yeah, there are boot prints up to and away from the back door but there are no signs of forced entry. All the windows are secure too. If they broke in, I can't tell where." Chin glanced behind him. "They take anything other than your father's tool box?"

"No but my father's entire investigation into my mother's murder was in that box." Steve pointed to the spot the box had been.

"Okay, I'm not a rocket scientist…" Danny began.

"Clearly." Cristina said, turning to him with a small smirk.

"Ha ha." He said to her before turning his attention back to Steve. "But that is the reason that they wanted that evidence."

"How did they now about the evidence?" Steve asked no one in particular.

"I didn't mention it to anyone." Chin answered. "When I called H.P.D. Archives to get the accident report I just asked for a file number."

"Did you guys mention that champ box to anybody at all?" He asked Cristina, Danny, and Kono.

"No." They all answered.

"You never talked about it with anyone else?" Chin asked him.

"I talked to the people in this room." Steve said to him before it looked like a moment of realization appears on his face. "And my sister. I talked to my sister." He said before leaving the room.

 **XXX**

Cristina stopped the Charger beside the Camaro, turning it off as she got out, drawing her gun from her waist. "Mary, you in there?" Steve called out as the three of them moved closer to the house. "Mary, it's Steve." The man said, looking into an open window. He moved towards the backdoor, glancing around before sliding the ajar door completely open. Danny and Cristina stood behind him. Once the door was open, Steve stepped inside, Danny followed with Cristina behind him. The three of them separated, Steve moving to the right while Danny and Cristina made their way to the left. They slowly made their way through the house, checking every room. Cristina put a hand on Danny's arm, getting the man's attention before nodding her head towards the front of the house. He nodded his head and she slowly made her way back towards the kitchen, going through it to make her way back to the living room. The whole house was clear. She re-holstered her gun and began to make her way towards the guys when something caught her eye.

"Steve! Danny!" She called for them, kneeling down beside a puddle of blood. She reached into her back pocket to grab a glove before slipping it on. She could hear the two of them making their way towards her. "I've got blood." She said when they came into her peripheral vision. She reached down, grabbing a small white object beside the puddle.

"What the hell is that?" Danny asked when he saw Cristina pick it up. She brought it to her face to examine it before looking at Steve, who was kneeling in front of her.

"It's a tooth." She answered, putting it into Steve's waiting, gloved hand. As Steve looked at it, she could hear Danny sigh.

"Mary's?" The blonde asked.

"I hope not." Steve said back to him. "Whoever took the box took Mary." Cristina took the tooth back from him and put it in a small evidence bag she had in her pocket before the man stood up and made his way back outside. Danny walked slowly, waiting for Cristina to follow.

 **XXX**

Cristina walked up towards Mamo's little surf shack. She had been running some more tests on the tooth, trying to get a hit in any system but it was slow proceedings so she synced the testing with her phone so that she would get immediate results.

"What bring you here?" The man, Mamo, asked Steve and Danny.

"My sister." Steve answered. Cristina laid a hand on Danny's back, causing the man to turn. He smiled when he saw her and she couldn't help but smile back. "Did she come see you, Mamo?" The man grabbed Steve's arm, gently moving him away from the stand. Cristina and Danny followed him.

"Yeah, she come around couple days ago. Ask me questions about your mother." The man answered Steve's question.

"What did you tell her?" The ex-SEAL asked.

"The truth."

"The truth that my mother didn't die in a car accident? That it was a car bomb that killed her?"

"Yes."

"How did you know, Mamo?"

"Before your mom died in that car, I saw a cop hanging around it, looking under it."

"It was a long time ago; get a good look at him?" Danny asked.

"Asian. Maybe 6 feet?" He gave a brief description, which Cristina filed away for later. "I tell your father. He told me not to report it. Not to trust any other cop. I would have kept my promise to your father. But when Mary come to me, I felt an obligation to her. And now to you." There was a moment of silence as Steve tried to process the information. Cristina glanced at Danny, who glanced back at her before they turned back to Mamo. "All this time… why you come to me now?"

"Because I think the questions Mary's been asking about our mother, have just got her kidnapped." Steve responded.

"Oh, no." Mamo said, looking upset with the information.

 **XXX**

Cristina followed behind the Camaro, glancing down at her phone in her cup holder for the results of the tests on the tooth. She sighed, turning her eyes back to the road before she heard her phone ringing, playing Bon Jovi's _You Give Love a Bad Name._ She reached down, hitting the accept button before pressing it to her ear.

"What's up?"

"I just called Chin, Mary called Steve." Danny said to her. Cristina let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good." As soon as she said that, the Camaro spun around in front of her, causing her to hit her breaks. "Okay, where the hell are you going?" She asked.

"Steve says we won't get there in time by car. I don't know anything else than that." Danny answered. She sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Then I'm heading back to the Palace to finish running the DNA on that tooth. Call me as soon as you guys get her." Cristina said as she turned towards HQ.

"Will do." Danny answered before hanging up. Cristina put the phone back into the cup holder before turning her full attention to driving.

 **XXX**

Danny called her as they were making their way back to the Palace, telling her that they had gotten Mary back. When they'd gotten back, Steve had taken Mary into his office to get her patched up and taken care of while Danny went to Max's ME office to see if they could figure out who their mystery guys were. Cristina kept her focus on running the tooth's DNA along with the new DNA of their dead guys with every database she could get into, along with fingerprints. A knock on her door drew her eyes up from her computer screen.

"You want to do something exciting?" Steve asked. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Getting coffee with you could be considered exciting." She said as she stood up, reattaching her gun and badge to her belt.

"I should take offence to that but I'm going to look at it like a compliment." He said with a smirk as he walked away from her.

"You're going to give me gray hairs by the time I'm 35." She said, almost jogging to keep up with his longer legs.

"Are you sure? I think I see one…" He leaned over, reaching for her hair. She quickly batted him away, causing him to chuckle.

 **XXX**

Cristina parked the Charger beside the Camaro before getting out, glancing at Chin as he parked beside her. "This is the place." Chin said as he shut the door on his SUV. "If our third attacker isn't in here, they'll know where to find him."

"Ooh. They got nice rides." Kono said as they walked towards the door, seeing all the bikes lined up.

"Oh! Those are some nice Ducatis." Cristina said as she stepped up to one of the bikes. It reminded her a lot of her ex-boyfriend's bike, it was the same yellow color and model.

"You know," Steve said, gaining her attention, "I've always wanted to ride one of these." He walked over to the first bike before getting onto it. He started it up as he pulled the kickstand up and revved the engine a few times. He drove it out a few feet before turning it sharply and running it through the doors. She tried to hide her smile as she heard Danny sigh. Danny walked in first after Cristina gave him a little push on the shoulder, Chin and Kono followed behind them. They quickly made their way up the stairs to the top floor. All of the guys were lying on the ground with their hands in the air. They all got up and made their way to face the back wall. Cristina re-holstered her gun and took Chin's shotgun from Danny's hand.

"I have a number of a therapist I wanna give you, okay?" Danny said to Steve as the other man stood beside him. "Walk up steps like a human." Slowly, Chin and Kono finished their searches of all the guys, pulling out two small guns, a pack of cigarettes, and a few other small items. Once the cousins announced it was clear, Steve ordered them all to turn around. When they all did, he stepped forward, showing them he pictures of the guys in the morgue.

"These friends of yours, huh?" None of the guys would look at the pictures. "Because right now they're dead, okay? And I wanna know who they worked for. So the first one to talk walks." He stopped at the last guy in the row. "How about you? You know these guys?" Cristina tilted her head, stepping up behind Steve slightly. The man's jaw was slightly swollen with a nasty bruise.

"Nasty bruise, man." She said, seeing Steve glance back at her before stepping up to him, using his gun to motion to the bruise.

"What do you got there?" He went to touch it and the man flinched away before he could make contact. Steve took a step closer, almost into the guy's face. "Say, "Aah."" The man refused, looking away from Steve. "Alright, everybody, hit the road. Except for our friend here." Slowly, the men made their out of the room and down the stairs. "Danny?" Steve asked the other man, crossing his arms.

"Yes, Steven?" Danny asked, coming closer and holstering his gun.

"Theoretically, if you wanted to open this guy's mouth, how would you do it?" He asked, looking back at the man over his shoulder.

"Oh, oh. Well, there's the, uh— the punch in the gut."

"That's good." Cristina added in from where she was sitting on the couch behind Steve.

"There's the knee to the joint. And I, of course, have the Williams family favorite."

"Oh, what's that?" Cristina asked, leaning back and crossing her legs. Steve glanced at her this time before turning back to the man in front of him. Danny glanced at the two of them before stepping forward the grabbed the guy's hair, yanking it backwards. He kept pulling until the man was laid flat on his back over a small table and then Danny hooked his finger into the side of the guy's mouth. Cristina hummed as she stood up.

"I like that one." Steve took turned on the flashlight on his gun, using it to look inside of his mouth.

"Alright. Nice and still. Yeah, look at that. Missing a tooth. Looks recent too. Stay there." Steve stepped back, reaching into his pockets to take out his phone before turning to Chin and Kono, who were waiting. "Alright. Chin, Kono, take him in." Danny let him up, wipping his hand on the man's shirt before he got out of reach. "Get the tooth from the ME."

"Let's see if the slipper fits, Cinderella." Chin said as he turned the guy around, zip tying his hands together.

"Excuse me." Danny said, gaining Steve's attention as the man was about to turn on the phone. She liked Danny. She really did. But sometimes she wished he wouldn't criticize Steve so much. It would make for an easier day with less arguing if he did. "You wanna just try asking him?"

"He was never gonna talk." Steve answered.

"I mean, do you know how painful it is to have a tooth knocked out." Cristina asked, raising an eyebrow at Danny. He rolled his blue eyes at her before turning his attention back to Steve.

"Of course he wasn't going to talk. You didn't throw him into a shark tank." Her brow furrowed in confusion as she turned to the blonde.

"What?" She asked. Danny held up a hand.

"Long story, I'll fill you in later." She nodded her head before turning back to Steve when he started speaking.

"Danny, these guys are Yakuza middlemen, okay? They don't talk. They know if they do, their families will get wiped out. We need to go higher up the food chain to find out who's behind this kidnapping and my mother's murder." He explained.

"Okay, but without the tooth fairy, how are we gonna do that?" Danny asked.

"This may help." Steve said, showing him the phone he'd taken from the man's pocket, before he turned and walked down the stairs. Danny turned to her.

"Why? Why did I agree to be his partner?" He asked her and she chuckled.

"Beats me. Remember, I wasn't here for that." She began walking down the stairs.

"Yeah but I mean, you see what I go through." Without looking, she knew that the man was following her and that he was flailing his arms. She chuckled.

"I do, and I go through the same thing." She heard him groan and she let out a chuckle. "Besides, if you weren't his partner we never would have met." The man was silent. Looking over her shoulder, she saw him watching her closely.

"That is true. You and Gracie are the only good things on this pineapple infested hell-hole." She smiled at him as they continued their way down the stairs.

 **XXX**

Cristina looked up when someone knocked on her offices' glass door. Danny was making his way back to the Smart Table from Steve's office, the ex-SEAL following behind him. Cristina stood and made her way out.

"So, what did you find?" Steve asked.

"A prominent venture capitalist originally from Japan." Kono explained. "He has residences there, Dubai, Malibu, three here in Hawaii. He's really well-connected. From everything I could gather, he seems like a well-respected, very wealthy entrepreneur."

"But that does not mean he's not with the Yakuza." Danny said to her. Cristina pointed at the man, agreeing with his point.

"He's right. In Japan, the mob's been known to work out in the open with major corporations." She said to them.

"What's his name?" Steve asked.

"Hiro Noshimuri." Kono answered. Steve stood completely still for a moment before moving quickly back to his office. Cristina couldn't help but jump at the quick movement. "Did I say something?" Kono asked as they all watched Steve make his way into the office. A moment later, he returned to the table with a notepad in his hand.

"What did you say?" He asked again.

"Hiro Noshimuri."

"That's it." Steve said as he laid the paper down for the other three to see. "That the cipher. Hiro Noshimuri." Cristina leaned against Danny's side to see the paper. She wasn't sure of the code but Steve had figured it out (not that she knew if he did it right but she wasn't going to question him).

"The cipher. What does that mean?" Danny asked the other man. Cristina leaned away from Danny but remained at his side.

"In 1992, my dad was the head of the H.P.D.'s organized crime unit. He was investigating the expansion of the Yakuza here in Hawaii and he was corresponding with somebody in Japan, somebody who gave him the name Hiro Noshimuri." Steve explained to them. "In code, right here." He pointed to the paper on the table.

"You got a name from a stick figure?" Danny asked, also pointing to the paper. He was asking the question that she wanted to but had decided against.

"The stick figures are the code. I used frequency analysis to crack it." Cristina nodded her head slightly, looking back at the paper.

"Frequency what?" Danny asked.

"Frequency analysis." Kono repeated.

"It's the study of the frequency of letters or groups of letters in a cipher text." Cristina explained, pushing her hair over her shoulder. The blonde looked between Steve and Cristina.

"Should I be aware of something Cristi? Are you guys dating now?" He asked the woman and she rolled her eyes with a small smile.

"This is it. My dad was getting closer." Steve said, completely ignoring the two of them. "He wanted to uncover the identity of the local oyabun, the boss. That's why they targeted him. The Yakuza wanted him dead. So they planted a bomb under his car. Only they didn't bet on my mother driving the car that day. And that's why my dad wanted me to find that toolbox. To finish this investigation that he started." Cristina, Kono, and Danny watched on silently as the man spoke. "I need to know where this guy is right now." Steve walked towards the door, Danny following him at a slower pace. Kono looked at Cristina and the older woman sighed.

 **XXX**

"So, what do you think about dinner tonight?" Danny asked, his voice slightly muffled by the pen cap in his mouth. Cristina tilted her head at him. The two of them had been trying to go to dinner for the past two weeks but something always came up. If they could get the case to a stopping point or wrap it up, they would be able to get something to eat.

"I think it could be great if we can actually get somewhere before they close." Cristina said, hiding a smirk behind her hand. The man rolled his eyes.

"It's not my fault that we work all hours of the night." He said, glancing up at him before going back to his paperwork. "Don't you have paperwork to do?" She shook her head.

"Nope, finished it earlier when you guys left." She watched the blonde for a moment before nodding her head with a small smile. "Dinner sounds nice though. Even if we're late, you should come over to my place. I should have something that I will be able to cook without burning it." He looked up at her, watching her for a moment before giving her a soft smile.

"That sounds nice." The man said, turning his attention to something over her shoulder, taking the pen cap out of his mouth. Looking over her shoulder and the back of the chair, she saw the Governor walking into Steve's office.

"Somebody's in trouble." She muttered, continuing to watch them. They looked like they spoke harshly before things quieted down. She turned her attention back to Danny, who had gone back to his paperwork with the occasional glance at the two in Steve's office. Eventually, he stopped trying to look busy and capped his pen, watching the conversation unfold. The governor soon left after finishing her beer and Steve made his way into Danny's office.

"That looked like it went well." The blonde said to him. "Should I pack now for Jersey or…?"

"Not getting off that easy. I wanna know everything there is about Hiro Noshimuri, okay? I wanna know every business he runs, who all of his employees are. All his family members, every friend he has. I wanna know where he eats. I wanna know where he sleeps. I want it all, okay?" Steve said, looking between Danny and Cristina. "We're gonna tear into this guy's life and we're gonna rip it all apart." Cristina shifted in her seat, pulling her phone from her back pocket and began looking for Trip's number.

"I have never liked you more than in this moment right now." Danny said to Steve with a smile. "It's beautiful." Cristina rolled her eyes, putting the phone to her ear as she stood up, both men watching her.

"Hello?" The voice said on the other end of the phone.

"Hey Trip, I got a favor…" She said, glancing between the two men. She could hear the man on the other end of the phone moving around.

"Sounds serious." There was some shuffling. "Ready when you are Wonder Woman."

"I need everything, and I mean everything, on Hiro Noshimuri." There was a pause.

"He's a pretty powerful guy. Do I even want to know?"

"I don't think you do."

"Everything, huh?"

"Everything down to when the food in his pantry expires." She could feel the men's eyes on her. Trip chuckled.

"I'm good but not that good." She could hear him typing. "It may take me a few hours but I'll call when I have everything together."

"Thanks man. I'll talk to you soon."

"No problem, later." She hung up the phone and both men rose a silently eyebrow, Danny waving a hand in the air.

"Former Army Ranger, duh." She gave them a small smile before she made her way towards her office. Before the door closed she could hear Steve say 'I see why you like her' to Danny.

 **XXX**

"And that's everything?" Cristina asked as she wrote down the last thing Trip told her.

"Honey, the only thing I couldn't get was those expiration dates." She smiled slightly. "That's everything. All I got." She nodded her head, putting her pen down. While everyone else was out looking for any sort of physical evidence on Noshimuri, Cristina had stayed behind to get the call from Trip. "You know, earlier I wanted to know about why you wanted to know about this guy but… I decided I don't want to know." She laughed slightly. "Good luck."

"Thanks. Bring the family to Hawaii; I owe you a few beers." The man chuckled.

"I'm holding you to that Taylor." He said and with a few quick goodbyes, they hung up. One thing that caught her attention was a brother named Koji Noshimuri. From what she got, the man was a cop with Steve's father right around the time of Steve's mother's death. She was about to get started on a deeper search when Chin came in.

"What'd you find out?" She called through her open door. Chin turned to her, leaning against the doorway.

"We got a brother named-"

"Koji Noshimuri?" Chin looked surprised and she offered him a small smile. "It's amazing what Army intelligence can get you." He shook his head with a small smile.

"I came back to pull up everything I can on him." He explained.

"Oh, what a coincidence. I was just about to do the same thing." She explained, holding up her tablet. The man nodded.

"Two heads are better than one." She nodded with a smile. The man moved towards the Smart Table to being going through H.P.D files.

 **XXX**

An hour later, Steve called Chin. Cristina unplugged her tablet before making her way out to the table. "Tell me you got Koji."

"He's alive and well and working for his brother as—"

"A consultant." Cristina finished, flicking the image from her tablet onto the screens.

"He's got a place downtown but travels back and forth to Japan a lot for Hiro." Chin continued after Cristina's interruption.

"Let me ask you, how does a consultant working for the Yakuza earn a check?" Danny asked.

"Well, this sounds like the beginning of a terrible joke." Cristina said quietly but she knew Chin could hear her from the snort he let out.

"Cleaning up his brother's messes." Steve answered.

"Oh look, there's the punchline." She said quietly again, waving an arm around like she was holding a small flag.

"Hey, find out if Koji's in the country, okay? If so, I wanna know where." Steve said to them. Cristina nodded, even though he couldn't see her.

"Roger that." Chin answered for the both of them before ending the call.

 **XXX**

"Hello?" Cristina answered her ringing cellphone.

"Cris? I need you down at the club. It's not an emergency but we found Steve's toolbox and I thought that he would rather have you run the prints." The woman glanced up at Chin, who had turned to her.

"Yeah, I'll grab my kit and be right over." Cristina said before hanging up the phone. She stood up and slipped it back into her pocket before making her way into her office, pulling her CSI kit from under the desk.

"They found Steve's toolbox at the club. I'm going to go down and process it." The man nodded.

"That's fine. I'll stay here and keep working." She nodded her head, before turning and making her way down the stairs towards the main lobby before getting into the parking lot. The drive wasn't too bad, although, nothing compares to New York City. She pulled up beside the squad car, seeing Kono standing beside the toolbox. Cristina grabbed her case before getting out, closing the door behind her as she walked over.

"Hey." She nodded to the younger woman.

"Hey." Kono nodded back.

"You can head back inside, I got this."

"You sure?" Cristina nodded her head and Kono nodded back before heading back inside the club. Immediately, Cristina got to work printing every inch of the box. She pulled off a ton of fingerprints, glancing through them; she saw that were smaller pair that she was sure belonged to Mary. She pulled out her small tablet out of her kit. Opening AFIS, she put the fingerprints into the scan and letting them run. She wasn't surprised to see Mary's picture pop up, which confirmed that the smaller prints where the other woman. Steve's were next, of course, she expected them. The next set made her smile. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she called Steve.

"Yeah." He answered.

"Hello to you too, Steve. I'm great, how are you?" She asked sarcastically. "Don't answer those, I got something."

"What?"

"I got at least three sets of prints from the box so far. One is Mary's which I expected from the size and shape. The other was, of course, you. The third might be the one you're interested in the most."

"Is it Noshimuri?"

"Absolutely. It's a 95.7% match. It's definitely him."

"Great job Cris."

"Eh, just doing my job." She gave Kono a small smile and a thumbs up when the woman came outside to check on things.

"Well, you do it well."

"Thank you. Thank you." She said before the pair said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. She nodded her head as she put everything back in her kit before bagging the box.

 **XXX**

"Hey." Danny said, walking into Cristina's office. She looked up from her bag and smiled.

"Hey yourself." She replied before turning back to her bag and zipping it up.

"We still on for dinner?" Danny asked, using his thumb to point behind him. She put the strap over her shoulder and nodded her head.

"Yeah but I think we should just head to my place. We can order in or something." Cristina suggested and Danny smiled.

"That sounds great." She smiled back as she made her way to the door, which Danny held open for her. As they stepped into the common area, they could see Steve looking through the pictures of the evidence from his father's box.

"I called him a while ago, what is he doing here? Can we just…?" Danny asked, moving towards Steve. She nodded her head, following him towards the other man. "Hey." He said, gaining Steve's attention. "Where you been? I called you on your cell." The other man was silent for a moment as they stood beside the table. He glanced over at the two of them.

"I had to drop Mary off and then I lost track of time." Steve explained softly.

"I'm sorry about that, man." Danny said to him while Cristina laid a hand on his back. He sighed.

"You gotta give her credit. She was on to something. All this stuff in my father's toolbox. It's not just about my mom's case. There's a bunch of other stuff that's much more current. Like the investigation he was involved in before Hesse killed him. We've got a bunch of leads to follow up on." Danny glanced at Cristina, who glanced back.

"Yeah, well, there's, uh, something we don't have to follow up on now."

"What?" Steve asked, looking between the two of them.

"Koji Noshimuri was found dead an hour ago." Cristina said, running her fingers through her hair. Steve looked at her for a moment before his eyes flickered to Danny and then back to her.

"How?" He asked.

"Car accident." Danny answered. "You believe that?"

"No." Steve said after a moment of silence. Cristina nodded her head. It was all too coincidental to have actually been a car accident but it was something for them to worry about tomorrow.


End file.
